RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Roanoke County >> Mountain Brook Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mountain Brook Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mountain Brook Estates and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Mountain Brook Estates
  • 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 Mountain Brook Estates:
    • 37.362632, -80.091154
    • 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 Mountain Brook Estates
  • 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 Roanoke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
    • Since Mountain Brook Estates is near Salem City and also Craig County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Salem City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Craig 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 Mountain Brook Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mountain Brook Estates ...

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.

  • Bear Rock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bear Rock is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rock
  • Dale Court
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dale Court is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale Court
  • Deep Dell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Deep Dell is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Dell
  • Dropmore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Dropmore is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dropmore
  • Evans Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Evans Hill is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Hill
  • Forest Lawn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Lawn is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lawn
  • Glen Cove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Cove is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Green Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Green Hill is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Hanging Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hanging Rock is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
  • Hockman
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Hockman is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockman
  • Honeysuckle Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Honeysuckle Bluff is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeysuckle Bluff
  • Lake Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lake Spring is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Spring
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Lake View
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Lake View is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
    • Lee - Mitchell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Lee - Mitchell is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee - Mitchell
    • Lewis Place
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Lewis Place is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Place
    • Locust Grove Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Locust Grove Park is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove Park
    • Mason Cove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Mason Cove is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Cove
    • Meadowview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Meadowview is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
    • Medley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Medley is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medley
    • Mitchell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Mitchell is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Mountain View
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Mountain View is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
    • Plainview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Plainview is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Quail Crossing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Quail Crossing is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Crossing
    • Rolling Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Skyview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Skyview is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
    • Spangler
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Spangler is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
    • Spring Garden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Garden is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
    • Spruce Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Spruce Hill is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Hill
    • Stonegate
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Stonegate is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Vermont Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Vermont Heights is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermont Heights
    • Willow Green
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Green is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Green
    • Woodlawn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Woodlawn is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
    • Woodside Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodside Park is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Park

How Far From Mountain Brook Estates 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 Mountain Brook Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 146 miles [235 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Mountain Brook Estates to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,093 miles [9,805.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,799 miles [10,941.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,676 miles [7,525.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Mountain Brook Estates) 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 Mountain Brook Estates 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 Mountain Brook Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3626, Longitude: -80.0912       In this case, the coordinates for Mountain Brook Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.759 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.336 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.534 degrees.