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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Random Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Random Hills 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 Random Hills:
    • 38.858399, -77.344529
    • 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 Random Hills
  • 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 Random Hills is near Fairfax City and also Prince William County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William 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 Random Hills

Communities Also Named Random Hills ...

We found one communities that are also named Random Hills.

Within Virginia, the name Random Hills is unique.

Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Random Hills in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Alamance County
      • This Random Hills is located in Alamance County and lies 225 miles [362.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Random Hills that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alamance County community of Random Hills.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Random Hills ...

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.

  • Blue Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Blue Oaks is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Oaks
  • Crystal Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Fair Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenway Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenway Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Hills
  • Holly Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
  • Joyce Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Joyce Heights is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce Heights
  • Lee-Hi Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Lee-Hi Village is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Village
  • Lewis Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lincoln Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
    • Little River Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Little River Hills is located in Fairfax City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Hills
    • Maple Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
    • Navy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Navy is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navy
    • Station Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Station Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Hills
    • Willow Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Willow Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Random Hills to Richmond, with an average speed<2>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 16 miles [25.7 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,912 miles [9,514.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,495 miles [7,234 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Random Hills) 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 Random Hills 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 Random Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8584, Longitude: -77.3445    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.073 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.642 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.859 degrees.