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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Yates Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Yates Ford 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 Yates Ford:
    • 38.763170, -77.412765
    • 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 Yates Ford
  • 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 Yates Ford is near Prince William County and also Manassas City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manassas 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 Yates Ford

Curious and Interesting Names Near Yates Ford ...

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.

  • Bloom Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloom Hill is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom Hill
  • Butts Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Butts Corner is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts Corner
  • Camelot
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Camelot is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Park is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Foxridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Foxridge is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxridge
  • Heritage Woods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Heritage Woods is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Woods
  • Hunters Square
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunters Square is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Square
  • Iron Gate
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Iron Gate is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
  • Lewis Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
  • Longview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Longview is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Mockingbird Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Mockingbird Ridge is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mockingbird Ridge
  • Orchard Bridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Orchard Bridge is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Bridge
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Raintree
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Raintree is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Ravenwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Ravenwood is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Station Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Station Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Hills
    • Uniontown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Uniontown is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
    • Woodlawn Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodlawn Meadows is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Meadows
    • Yorkshire
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Yorkshire is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
    • Yorkshire Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 northwest)
      • Yorkshire Village is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Village

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Yates Ford 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 22 miles [35.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,919 miles [9,525.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,624 miles [10,660.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,501 miles [7,243.7 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 from Point A (ie- Yates Ford) 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 Yates Ford 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 Yates Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7632, Longitude: -77.4128       In this case, the coordinates for Yates Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.119 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.679 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.923 degrees.