RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Groveton Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Groveton Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Groveton Heights and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Groveton Heights:
    • 38.770392, -77.093590
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Groveton Heights
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Groveton Heights is near Alexandria City and also Prince George's County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Groveton Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Groveton Heights ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Cannon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cannon is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
  • Clover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Clover is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover
  • College Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • College Park is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Delta
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Delta is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Duke Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Duke Gardens is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Gardens
  • Fair Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fair Haven is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
  • Governors Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Governors Grove is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Grove
  • Gum Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Gum Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Hayfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Marlin Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Marlin Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin Forest
  • Memorial Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Memorial Heights is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Heights
  • Ridgeview
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Ridgeview is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rose Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Rose Hill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Silver Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Spring Bank
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Spring Bank is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bank
    • Sunnyview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Sunnyview is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
    • Virginia Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills

How Far From Groveton Heights to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Groveton Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Groveton Heights and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Groveton Heights to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 9 miles [14.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,610 miles [10,637.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,487 miles [7,221.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Groveton Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<3>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Groveton Heights to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Groveton Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7704, Longitude: -77.0936       In this case, the coordinates for Groveton Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.931 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.466 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.787 degrees.