RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Tysons Corner >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tysons Corner, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tysons Corner 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 Tysons Corner:
    • 38.918722, -77.231093
    • 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 Tysons Corner
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Tysons Corner is near Falls Church City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington 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 Tysons Corner

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tysons Corner ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cinnamon Creek is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnamon Creek
  • Crescent Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Enola
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Enola is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
  • Falls Church
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Falls Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Four Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Four Corners is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Foxhall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Franklin
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Franklin is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Greenway Downs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Howard
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Howard is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Kent Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
  • Peacock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Peacock is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Pine Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pine Spring
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Pine Spring is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
    • Poplar Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Sun Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sun Valley is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Swinks Mill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Swinks Mill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinks Mill
    • Virginia Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Wolf Trap
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wolf Trap is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Trap

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Tysons Corner and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Tysons Corner to Richmond, with an average speed<3>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 10 miles [16.1 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,610 miles [10,637.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,487 miles [7,221.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Tysons Corner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Tysons Corner 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 Tysons Corner. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9187, Longitude: -77.2311       In this case, the coordinates for Tysons Corner have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.003 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.571 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.788 degrees.