Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Tara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tara and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Tara
- 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 Tara:
- 38.890389, -77.134979
- 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 Tara
- 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 Arlington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Arlington County
- Since Tara is near Fairfax County and also Falls Church City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
- eBird sighting report for Falls Church 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Tara ...
We found ten communities that share the name Tara.
Within Virginia, the name Tara is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Bibb County
- This Tara is located in Bibb County and lies 556 miles [894.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Tara.
- Muscogee County
- This Tara is located in Muscogee County and lies 622 miles [1,001 km] to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muscogee County community of Tara.
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Anne Arundel County
- This Tara is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the east of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Tara.
- Cecil County
- This Tara is located in Cecil County and lies 91 miles [146.5 km] to the northeast of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of Tara.
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- This Tara lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Tara ...
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.
- Cherrydale
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrydale
- Cherrydale is located in Arlington County
- Colonial Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonial Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Colonial Village is located in Arlington County
- Crescent Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
- Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
- Dominion Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dominion Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Heights
- Dominion Heights is located in Arlington County
- Dominion Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dominion Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
- Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
- Dover
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Falls Church
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Church
- Falls Church is located in Falls Church City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,631 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falls Church <4>
- Foxhall
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Garden City
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Arlington County
- Glen Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
- Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
- Greenway Downs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenway Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
- Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
- Halls Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
- Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Kent Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
- Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
- Lacey Forest
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacey Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
- Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
- Lee Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
- Lee Heights is located in Arlington County
- Lyon Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Lyon Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyon Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Village
- Lyon Village is located in Arlington County
- Ravenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Riverwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
- Riverwood is located in Arlington County
- Seven Corners
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Corners
- Seven Corners is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seven Corners <4>
- Sleepy Hollow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
- Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
- Virginia Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
- Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
- Virginia Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Heights
- Virginia Heights is located in Arlington County
- Kent Gardens
How Far From Tara 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 Tara to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Tara and extending to:
- Arlington, which is the Seat of Arlington County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Tara 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 most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is just to the east (E).
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,607 miles [10,632.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,484 miles [7,216.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Tara. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Arlington County: www.co.arlington.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 '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- Tara) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8904, Longitude: -77.1350 In this case, the coordinates for Tara have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Tara 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 Tara 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 307.948 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.504 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.758 degrees. |