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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mountfair, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mountfair 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 Mountfair:
    • 38.169788, -78.674486
    • 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 Mountfair
  • 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 Albemarle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albemarle County
    • Since Mountfair is near Greene County and also Augusta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Augusta 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 Mountfair

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mountfair ...

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.

  • Broad Axe ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Broad Axe is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Axe
  • Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crossroads is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Davis Shop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Davis Shop is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Shop
  • Fairgrove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Fairgrove is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairgrove
  • Free Union
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Freetown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Freetown is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freetown
  • Greenwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Hickory Ridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
  • Ivy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Ivy Farms
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivy Farms is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Farms
  • Ivy Meadows
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ivy Meadows is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Meadows
  • Ivy Oaks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivy Oaks is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Oaks
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Ivy Woods
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Ivy Woods is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Woods
    • Mallard Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Mallard Lake is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Lake
    • Peacock Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Peacock Hill is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock Hill
    • Shady Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Shady Grove is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Skyline Crest
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Skyline Crest is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Crest
    • Whispering Pines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Yancey Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)

How Far From Mountfair 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 Mountfair to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Mountfair and extending to:

  • Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Mountfair to Charlottesville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 80 miles [128.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 101 miles [162.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,998 miles [9,652.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,704 miles [10,789 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,581 miles [7,372.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Mountfair) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Mountfair 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 Mountfair. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1698, Longitude: -78.6745    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.895 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.471 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.669 degrees.