RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Roanoke County >> West Salem Forest >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Salem Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Salem Forest 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 Salem Forest:
    • 37.265967, -80.126986
    • 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 Salem Forest
  • 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 Roanoke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
    • Since West Salem Forest is near Salem City and also Roanoke City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Salem City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke City
  • 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 Salem Forest

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Salem Forest ...

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.

  • Bear Rock
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bear Rock is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rock
  • Cherokee Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cherokee Hills is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
  • Deep Dell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Deep Dell is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Dell
  • Glen Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Glen Forest is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Green Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Green Hill is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Jones
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jones is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
  • King
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • King is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Lee - Mitchell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lee - Mitchell is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee - Mitchell
  • Lewis Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Lewis Place is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Place
  • Luther Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Luther Park is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther Park
  • Mitchell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mitchell is located in Salem City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Quail Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Quail Crossing is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Crossing
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Robin Hood Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Robin Hood Park is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robin Hood Park
    • Rolling Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Talking Leaves
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Talking Leaves is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talking Leaves
    • Vermont Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Vermont Heights is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermont Heights
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodlawn is located in Salem City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from West Salem Forest to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 202 miles [325.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,099 miles [9,815.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,805 miles [10,951.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,682 miles [7,534.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Salem Forest) 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 Salem Forest 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 Salem Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2660, Longitude: -80.1270       In this case, the coordinates for West Salem Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.782 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.349 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.58 degrees.