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 The Lakes:
36.805833, -76.085833
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.
We found eleven communities that share the name The Lakes.
There is one other community in Virginia which is also named The Lakes.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Located In Virginia ...
Bedford County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of The Lakes [Bedford County].
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alaska
This The Lakes lies 3,482 miles [5,603.7 km]<2> to the northwest.
Arizona
Maricopa County
This The Lakes is located in Maricopa County and lies 2,026 miles [3,260.5 km]<2> to the west.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of The Lakes.
Arkansas
Crittenden County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of The Lakes [Crittenden County].
Georgia
Camden County
This The Lakes is located in Camden County and lies 523 miles [841.7 km]<2> to the southwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of The Lakes.
Kentucky
Jackson County
This The Lakes is located in Jackson County and lies 434 miles [698.5 km]<2> to the west.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of The Lakes.
Maryland
Baltimore County
This The Lakes is located in Baltimore County and lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<2> to the north.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of The Lakes.
Minnesota
Murray County
This The Lakes is located in Murray County and lies 1,142 miles [1,837.9 km]<2> to the west northwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Murray County community of The Lakes.
Nevada
Clark County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of The Lakes [Clark County].
North Carolina
Cumberland County
This The Lakes is located in Cumberland County and lies 201 miles [323.5 km]<2> to the southwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of The Lakes.
Washington
King County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of The Lakes [King County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near The Lakes ...
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.
Eastern Park (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastern Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 The Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in The Lakes and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from The Lakes 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 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 153 miles [246.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,945 miles [9,567.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,638 miles [10,682.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,520 miles [7,274.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 The Lakes 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 . 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.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- The Lakes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8058, Longitude: -76.0858 In this case, the coordinates for The Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>
The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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 The Lakes to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.463 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.632 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.123 degrees.