Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Penlan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Penlan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Penlan
- 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 Penlan:
- 37.663756, -78.367225
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Penlan
- 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 Buckingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Buckingham County
- Since Penlan is near Fluvanna County and also Cumberland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fluvanna County
- eBird sighting report for Cumberland 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Penlan ...
We found one communities that share the name Penlan.
Within Virginia, the name Penlan is unique.
Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Penlan in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Penlan ...
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.
- Alpha
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Cloverdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Fluvanna County
- Fork Union
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fork Union
- Fork Union is located in Fluvanna County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fork Union <3>
- Gold Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Gold Hill is located in Buckingham County
- Gravel Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gravel Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
- Gravel Hill is located in Buckingham County
- Hardware
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Hatcher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Kidds Store
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kidds Store have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidds Store
- Kidds Store is located in Fluvanna County
- Slate Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slate Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Hill
- Slate Hill is located in Buckingham County
- Sunny Side
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunny Side have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Sunny Side is located in Buckingham County
- Tally ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Union Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Buckingham County
How Far From Penlan 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 Penlan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Penlan and extending to:
- Buckingham, which is the Seat of Buckingham County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<5> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Penlan to Buckingham, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 51 miles [82.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 111 miles [178.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,007 miles [9,667.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,710 miles [10,798.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,587 miles [7,382.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Penlan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Penlan 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 county. 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Penlan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Penlan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6638, Longitude: -78.3672 In this case, the coordinates for Penlan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Penlan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.735 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.213 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.722 degrees. |