RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fluvanna County >> Zion Crossroads >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zion Crossroads, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zion Crossroads 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 Zion Crossroads:
    • 37.970974, -78.219726
    • 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 Zion Crossroads
  • 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 Fluvanna County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fluvanna County
    • Since Zion Crossroads is near Louisa County and also Albemarle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Louisa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Albemarle 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 Zion Crossroads

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zion Crossroads ...

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.

  • Cranks ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cranks is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranks
  • Ferncliff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ferncliff is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
  • Hunters
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunters is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters
  • Mallory ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mallory is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory
  • Poindexter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Poindexter is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poindexter
  • Rugby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rugby is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
  • Trice ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Trice is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trice
  • Union Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Union Mills is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
  • Wildwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wildwood is located in Fluvanna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
  • Zion
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Zion is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion

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

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

  • Palmyra, which is the Seat of Fluvanna County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Zion Crossroads to Richmond, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 90 miles [144.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,987 miles [9,635.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,691 miles [10,768.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,569 miles [7,353.1 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 from Point A (ie- Zion Crossroads) 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 Zion Crossroads 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 Zion Crossroads. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9710, Longitude: -78.2197       In this case, the coordinates for Zion Crossroads have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.635 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.146 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.552 degrees.