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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Lakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Lakes and the surrounding area.
- 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 Lakes:
- 38.516791, -78.020831
- 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 Lakes
- 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 Culpeper County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Culpeper County
- Since West Lakes is near Rappahannock County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rappahannock County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Lakes
Communities Also Named West Lakes ...
We found two communities that are also named West Lakes.
Within Virginia, the name West Lakes is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- New Haven County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Connecticut community of West Lakes [New Haven County].
- Florida
- Palm Beach County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of West Lakes [Palm Beach County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Lakes ...
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.
- Boston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Braggs Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Braggs Corner is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braggs Corner
- Brandy Station
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cedarbrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cedarbrook is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarbrook
- Eggbornsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Eggbornsville is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eggbornsville
- Friendship Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Friendship Heights is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Heights
- Greens Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Greens Corner is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Corner
- Griffinsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Griffinsburg is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffinsburg
- High Point
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- High Point is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- Homeland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Homeland is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland
- Meadows of Culpeper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Meadows of Culpeper is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows of Culpeper
- Monumental Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Monumental Mills is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monumental Mills
- Norman
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Norman is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman
How Far From West Lakes to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs 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 Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Lakes and extending to:
- Culpeper, which is the Seat of Culpeper County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<3> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from West Lakes to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 59 miles [95 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,955 miles [9,583.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,661 miles [10,719.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,538 miles [7,303.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 West Lakes 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Lakes) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Lakes 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 Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5168, Longitude: -78.0208 In this case, the coordinates for West Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.492 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.066 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.27 degrees. |
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