RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Arlington County >> Hillwood >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hillwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hillwood 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 Hillwood:
    • 38.876501, -77.167480
    • 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 Hillwood
  • 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 Arlington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
    • Since Hillwood is near Fairfax County and also Falls Church City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
  • 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 Hillwood

Communities Also Named Hillwood ...

We found nine communities that are also named Hillwood.

Within Virginia, the name Hillwood is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Coosa County
      • This Hillwood is located in Coosa County and lies 657 miles [1,057.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coosa County community of Hillwood.
      • Madison County
      • This Hillwood is located in Madison County and lies 596 miles [959.2 km] to the west southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Hillwood.
      • Montgomery County
      • This Hillwood is located in Montgomery County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km] to the southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Hillwood.
    • Maryland
      • Charles County
      • This Hillwood is located in Charles County and lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Hillwood.
    • South Carolina
      • Pickens County
      • This Hillwood is located in Pickens County and lies 410 miles [659.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pickens County community of Hillwood.
    • Tennessee
      • Davidson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Hillwood [Davidson County].
      • Montgomery County
      • This Hillwood is located in Montgomery County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Hillwood.
      • Putnam County
      • This Hillwood is located in Putnam County and lies 494 miles [795 km] to the west southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Hillwood.
      • Sumner County
      • This Hillwood is located in Sumner County and lies 546 miles [878.7 km] to the west southwest of the Hillwood that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumner County community of Hillwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hillwood ...

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.

  • Crescent Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Dominion Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Falls Church
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Falls Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Foxhall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Garden City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Garden City is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Glen Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Greenway Downs
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Halls Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
  • Kent Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
  • Lacey Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
  • Pine Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pine Spring is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Poplar Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Ravenwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Seven Corners
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Walters Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods

How Far From Hillwood to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hillwood and extending to:

  • Arlington, which is the Seat of Arlington County, lies just to the East.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Hillwood to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 6 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 just to the east (E).
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,904 miles [9,501.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,609 miles [10,636.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,486 miles [7,219.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hillwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Hillwood could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Hillwood 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 Hillwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8765, Longitude: -77.1675       In this case, the coordinates for Hillwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.968 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.525 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.777 degrees.