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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Walhaven, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Walhaven 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 Walhaven:
    • 38.776503, -77.143591
    • 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 Walhaven
  • 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 Walhaven is near Alexandria City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria 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 Walhaven

Curious and Interesting Names Near Walhaven ...

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.

  • Cannon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cannon is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
  • Delta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Delta is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Duke Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Duke Gardens is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Gardens
  • Fair Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fair Haven is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
  • Governors Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Governors Grove is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Grove
  • Hayfield
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Indian Run Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
  • Indian Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Memorial Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Memorial Heights is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Heights
  • Piney Court
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Piney Court is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Court
  • Raceway Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Raceway Farms is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raceway Farms
  • Ridgeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgeview is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Rose Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rose Hill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Seminary Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Seminary Valley is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Valley
    • Silver Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Silver Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Spring Bank
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Spring Bank is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bank
    • Varsity Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Varsity Park is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varsity Park
    • Virginia Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Willow Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Walhaven 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 10 miles [16.1 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,907 miles [9,506.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,612 miles [10,641 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,489 miles [7,224.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Walhaven) 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 Walhaven 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 Walhaven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7765, Longitude: -77.1436       In this case, the coordinates for Walhaven have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.96 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.50 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.805 degrees.