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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Parks Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parks Mill 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 Parks Mill:
    • 36.643724, -81.959291
    • 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 Parks Mill
  • 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 Parks Mill is near Sullivan County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Parks Mill

Communities Also Named Parks Mill ...

We found two communities that are also named Parks Mill.

Within Virginia, the name Parks Mill is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Morgan County
      • This Parks Mill is located in Morgan County and lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Parks Mill that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Parks Mill.
    • South Carolina
      • McCormick County
      • This Parks Mill is located in McCormick County and lies 193 miles [310.6 km]<1> to the south of the Parks Mill that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McCormick County community of Parks Mill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Parks Mill ...

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.

  • Booker
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Booker is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booker
  • Butts
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Butts is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts
  • Camp Tom Howard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Camp Tom Howard is located in Sullivan County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Tom Howard
  • Cedar Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Bluff is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
  • Cold Spring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cold Spring is located in Sullivan County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Drowning Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Drowning Ford is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Ford
  • Evergreen Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Evergreen Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Hills
  • Fractionville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fractionville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fractionville
  • Friendship
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Friendship is located in Sullivan County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Green Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Green Spring is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring
  • Jacob ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jacob is located in Sullivan County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacob
  • Painter Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Painter Spring is located in Sullivan County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painter Spring
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Roetown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Roetown is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roetown
    • Rust Hollow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rust Hollow is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rust Hollow
    • Shady Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Shady Grove is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Twin Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Sullivan County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks

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

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

  • Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 256 miles [412 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Parks Mill to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 310 miles [498.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,912 miles [11,123.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,788 miles [7,705.5 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Parks Mill) 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 Parks Mill 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 Parks Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6437, Longitude: -81.9593       In this case, the coordinates for Parks Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.876 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.509 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.531 degrees.