RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Stafford County >> Smith Lake Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smith Lake Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smith Lake Estates 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 Smith Lake Estates:
    • 38.489900, -77.419400
    • 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 Smith Lake Estates
  • 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 Stafford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stafford County
    • Since Smith Lake Estates is near Prince William County and also Charles County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles 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 Smith Lake Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smith Lake Estates ...

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.

  • Dogwoods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dogwoods is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwoods
  • Elizabeth Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Elizabeth Park is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth Park
  • Fritters Lane
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Fritters Lane is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fritters Lane
  • Heritage Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Heritage Oaks is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Oaks
  • King James Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • King James Village is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King James Village
  • Liberty Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Liberty Place is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Place
  • Meadowlark
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Meadowlark is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlark
  • Midway Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Midway Island is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Island
  • Old Homestead
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Old Homestead is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Homestead
  • Park Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Park Ridge is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Ridge
  • Patriots Landing
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Patriots Landing is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patriots Landing
  • Raintree
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Raintree is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Settlers Landing
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Settlers Landing is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Landing
    • Shadow Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Shadow Woods is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Woods
    • Sky Terrace
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sky Terrace is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Terrace
    • Sunnyside
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Sunnyside is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Vintage Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Vintage Oaks is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Oaks

How Far From Smith Lake Estates to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Smith Lake Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Stafford, which is the Seat of Stafford County, lies just to the South.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Smith Lake Estates to Richmond, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 34 miles [54.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,931 miles [9,545 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,635 miles [10,678 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,512 miles [7,261.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smith Lake Estates) 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 Smith Lake Estates 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 Smith Lake Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4899, Longitude: -77.4194       In this case, the coordinates for Smith Lake Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.139 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.66 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.029 degrees.