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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laureldale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laureldale 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 Laureldale:
    • 36.623728, -81.762063
    • 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 Laureldale
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Laureldale is near Johnson County and also Ashe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ashe 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 Laureldale

Communities Also Named Laureldale ...

We found three communities that are also named Laureldale.

Within Virginia, the name Laureldale is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Laureldale is located in Baltimore County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Laureldale that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Laureldale.
    • New Jersey
      • Atlantic County
      • This Laureldale is located in Atlantic County and lies 432 miles [695.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Laureldale that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Atlantic County community of Laureldale.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Berks County
      • This Laureldale is located in Berks County and lies 409 miles [658.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Laureldale that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Laureldale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laureldale ...

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.

  • Cedar Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Bluff is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
  • Creek Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Creek Junction is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek Junction
  • Damascus
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Drowning Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Drowning Ford is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Ford
  • Eureka
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Eureka is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Laurel Bloomery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Masada
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Masada is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masada
  • Roetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Roetown is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roetown
  • Shingletown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Shingletown is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
  • Silver Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Silver Lake is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
  • Sugar Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sugar Creek is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
  • Vails Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Vails Mill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vails Mill

How Far From Laureldale to ...

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

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

  • Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Laureldale to Abingdon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 246 miles [395.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 301 miles [484.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,904 miles [11,110.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,780 miles [7,692.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Laureldale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Laureldale 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 Laureldale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6237, Longitude: -81.7621       In this case, the coordinates for Laureldale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.759 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.371 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.455 degrees.