Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Reston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Reston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Reston
- 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 Reston:
- 38.960312, -77.354486
- 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 Reston
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
- Since Reston is near Loudoun County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Reston ...
We found three communities that share the name Reston.
Within Virginia, the name Reston is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Manitoba
- This Reston lies 1,373 miles [2,209.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Reston that is located in Fairfax County.
- Oregon
- West Virginia
- Manitoba
Curious and Interesting Names Near Reston ...
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.
- Cinnamon Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cinnamon Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnamon Creek
- Cinnamon Creek is located in Fairfax County
- Cooktown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Four Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in Fairfax County
- Great Falls
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Falls
- Great Falls is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great Falls <4>
- Hickory Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
- Hickory Creek is located in Fairfax County
- Hickory Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Run
- Hickory Run is located in Fairfax County
- Moneys Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moneys Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moneys Corner
- Moneys Corner is located in Fairfax County
- Oak Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oak Grove is located in Loudoun County
- Pinecrest
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Springvale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springvale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
- Springvale is located in Fairfax County
- Sun Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Fairfax County
- Sunset Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hills
- Sunset Hills is located in Fairfax County
- Wolf Trap
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
How Far From Reston 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 Reston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Reston and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Reston 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 three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 17 miles [27.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,908 miles [9,508 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,614 miles [10,644.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,491 miles [7,227.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Reston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fairfax County: www.co.fairfax.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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- Reston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Reston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9603, Longitude: -77.3545 |
| <2> | 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 Reston 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Reston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.073 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.657 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.824 degrees. |