RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Prince William County >> West Gate >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Gate, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Gate 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 West Gate:
    • 38.782893, -77.497490
    • 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 West Gate
  • 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 Prince William County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William County
    • Since West Gate is near Manassas Park City and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manassas Park City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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 West Gate

Communities Also Named West Gate ...

We found three communities that are also named West Gate.

Within Virginia, the name West Gate is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This West Gate is located in Hillsborough County and lies 800 miles [1,287.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the West Gate that is located in Prince William County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of West Gate.
      • Palm Beach County
      • This West Gate is located in Palm Beach County and lies 847 miles [1,363.1 km] to the south of the West Gate that is located in Prince William County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Palm Beach County community of West Gate.
    • South Carolina
      • Anderson County
      • This West Gate is located in Anderson County and lies 414 miles [666.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the West Gate that is located in Prince William County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of West Gate.

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Gate ...

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.

  • Bull Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Bull Run is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
  • Cedar Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Cedar Park is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Country Scene
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Country Scene is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Scene
  • Coverstone
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Coverstone is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coverstone
  • Iron Gate
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Iron Gate is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
  • Orchard Bridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Orchard Bridge is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Bridge
  • Uniontown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Uniontown is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
  • Yorkshire
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Yorkshire is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
  • Yorkshire Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Yorkshire Park is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Park
  • Yorkshire Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Yorkshire Village is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Village

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Gate and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from West Gate 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 26 miles [41.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,922 miles [9,530.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,627 miles [10,665.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,504 miles [7,248.5 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Gate) 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 West Gate 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 West Gate. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7829, Longitude: -77.4975       In this case, the coordinates for West Gate have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.168 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.738 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.951 degrees.