RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Pine Spring >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pine Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pine Spring 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 Pine Spring:
    • 38.867334, -77.205815
    • 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 Pine Spring
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Pine Spring is near Falls Church City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington 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 Pine Spring

Communities Also Named Pine Spring ...

We found four communities that are also named Pine Spring.

Within Virginia, the name Pine Spring is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Mexico
      • Lincoln County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Pine Spring [Lincoln County].
      • Otero County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Otero County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otero County community of Pine Spring.
    • Tennessee
      • Greene County
      • This Pine Spring is located in Greene County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<3> to the west southwest of the Pine Spring that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Pine Spring.
    • Texas
      • Pine Spring #
      • This community is historic<2> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Pine Spring.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pine Spring ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Camelot
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Camelot is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Dominion Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Doveville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Doveville is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doveville
  • Enola
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Enola is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
  • Falls Church
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Falls Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Foxhall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Franklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Franklin is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Glen Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Greenway Downs
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
    • Hillbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
    • Howard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Howard is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
    • Hunts Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hunts Village is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Village
    • Kent Gardens
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
    • Lee Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lee Forest is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Forest
    • Lee Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lee Meadows is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Meadows
    • Mount Pleasant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Pine Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
    • Poplar Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Seven Corners
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Walters Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods
    • Willow Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 92 miles [148.1 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Pine Spring to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 9 miles [14.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,906 miles [9,504.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,611 miles [10,639.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,488 miles [7,222.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Pine Spring 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Pine Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pine Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Pine Spring 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 Pine Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8673, Longitude: -77.2058       In this case, the coordinates for Pine Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.991 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.549 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.797 degrees.