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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tysons Green, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tysons Green 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 Green:
    • 38.921778, -77.249426
    • 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 Green
  • 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 Green is near Falls Church City and also Montgomery 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 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Tysons Green

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tysons Green ...

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

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Tysons Green 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 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 11 miles [17.7 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The shortest distance<3> 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).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,611 miles [10,639.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,488 miles [7,222.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tysons Green) 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 Tysons Green 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 Green. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9218, Longitude: -77.2494       In this case, the coordinates for Tysons Green have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.013 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.583 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.794 degrees.