RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Franklin County >> Red Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Red Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Red Valley 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 Red Valley:
    • 37.135140, -79.861423
    • 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 Red Valley
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Red Valley is near Roanoke County and also Roanoke City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke City
  • 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 Red Valley

Communities Also Named Red Valley ...

We found two communities that are also named Red Valley.

Within Virginia, the name Red Valley is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Apache County
      • This Red Valley is located in Apache County and lies 1,607 miles [2,586.2 km]<1> to the west of the Red Valley that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Apache County community of Red Valley.
    • New Jersey
      • Monmouth County
      • This Red Valley is located in Monmouth County and lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Red Valley that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monmouth County community of Red Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Red Valley ...

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.

  • Burnt Chimney
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnt Chimney is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Chimney
  • Chestnut Hills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Clearbrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clearbrook is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearbrook
  • Crafts Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Crafts Point is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crafts Point
  • Crescent Heights
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Crossroads is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Dundee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Dundee is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
  • Foxfire
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Foxfire is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfire
  • Garden City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden City is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Hardy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hardy Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardy Ford is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy Ford
  • Helm
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Helm is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helm
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Homeland Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Homeland Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland Hills
    • Hunting Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hunting Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hills
    • Jamestown Place
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jamestown Place is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Place
    • Leslie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Leslie is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
    • Mayflower Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Mayflower Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Hills
    • Mount Pleasant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Narrows
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Narrows is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows
    • Peakwood Hills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Peakwood Hills is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peakwood Hills
    • River Edge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • River Edge is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Edge
    • Woods Crossing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Woods Crossing is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossing
    • Yellowstone
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Yellowstone is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellowstone

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

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

  • Rocky Mount, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Red Valley to Rocky Mount, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 136 miles [218.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,093 miles [9,805.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,798 miles [10,940.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,675 miles [7,523.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Red Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Red Valley 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 Red Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1351, Longitude: -79.8614       In this case, the coordinates for Red Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.628 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.154 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.514 degrees.