RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Prince William County >> Rixlew >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rixlew, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rixlew and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Rixlew:
    • 38.760949, -77.505823
    • 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 Rixlew
  • 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 Prince William County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William County
    • Since Rixlew is near Manassas City and also Manassas Park City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manassas City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manassas Park 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 Rixlew

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rixlew ...

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.

  • Bloom Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bloom Hill is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom Hill
  • Bull Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bull Run is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
  • Cedar Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Park is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Clover Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Clover Hill is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
  • Country Scene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Country Scene is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Scene
  • Coverstone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Coverstone is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coverstone
  • Foxridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Foxridge is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxridge
  • Hunters Square
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunters Square is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Square
  • Iron Gate
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Iron Gate is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
  • Longview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Longview is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Orchard Bridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Orchard Bridge is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Bridge
  • Woodlawn Farms
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodlawn Farms is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Farms
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Woodlawn Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn Meadows is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Meadows
    • Yorkshire
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Yorkshire is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
    • Yorkshire Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Yorkshire Park is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Park
    • Yorkshire Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Yorkshire Village is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Village

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Rixlew and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Rixlew 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 5 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 26 miles [41.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,923 miles [9,532.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,629 miles [10,668.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,506 miles [7,251.7 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- Rixlew) 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 Rixlew 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 Rixlew. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7609, Longitude: -77.5058       In this case, the coordinates for Rixlew have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.174 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.742 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.963 degrees.