Skip to content
WanderNerd
Check a flight

Window Seat

Juneau → Anchorage

JNU–ANC · Juneau International Airport to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

Best bet

Either side

Both sides workThe two sides come out close to level.

Both sides have something going for them, and the totals come out close enough that picking one would be a coin flip with extra steps.

Flight paths move around. Treat this as the better bet, not a promise.

What you might see

In flight order, with distance measured from the representative route.

JNU to ANC: where each landmark sits relative to the routeA diagram of the representative route running left to right, with the departure airport at the left and the arrival airport at the right. Landmarks on the left side of the aircraft are plotted above the route line and landmarks on the right side below it, each at its distance from the route. The numbered list below this diagram carries the same information as text.JNUANCLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 56 miles); the shaded ends are the 40-mile zones around each airport where the runway in use decides the view. Numbers match the list below. Hollow markers didn't count toward the recommendation.

  1. Glacier Bay

    Either sideEarly3 mi off the route

    Glacier Bay passes almost directly beneath early in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  2. Mount Fairweather

    LeftQuarter in11 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Mount Fairweather sits roughly 11 miles to the left.

    Strong candidate

  3. the Malaspina Glacier

    RightHalfway13 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for the Malaspina Glacier, about 13 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Mount Logan

    RightHalfway56 mi off the route

    Mount Logan is about 56 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Saint Elias

    RightHalfway32 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Mount Saint Elias sits roughly 32 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  6. Prince William Sound

    LeftThree quarters14 mi off the route

    Look left about three quarters of the way for Prince William Sound, about 14 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. the Chugach Mountains

    RightNear the end36 mi off the route

    the Chugach Mountains is about 36 miles off the right, late in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  8. Turnagain Arm

    LeftNear the end11 mi off the route

    Whether Turnagain Arm appears comes down to how you come into ANC, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

The sun

Flying soon? Add your date and departure time and we'll work out where the sun should be, and which side gets less of it.

Airport codes or city names. SEA, Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma all work.

Skip the date and you still get the landmark answer. Add it and we work out where the sun will be, using the departure airport's local time.

The route we used

569 mi
Great-circle distance
297°
Course out of JNU
283°
Course into ANC
6
Landmarks that counted

That is the shortest path between the two airports, used as a representative corridor rather than a flight plan. The first and last 40 miles are treated as uncertain, because that part of the flight is shaped by the runway in use and the published departure or arrival procedure. Anything in those zones is listed and marked, never counted toward the recommendation.

Left and right, from where?

Left and right are from your perspective sitting in the cabin, facing the front of the aircraft. Seat letters are not a reliable guide to which side you are on, because aircraft are configured differently.

Why this isn't guaranteed

Flights don't follow the same path every day. Runway configuration, weather deviations, traffic, and air traffic control all move the track around, and none of it is knowable in advance. We also have nothing to say about cloud cover, which is the other thing standing between you and Mount Rainier. The full method.

Flying the other way?

Anchorage → JuneauEither side

Calculated from scratch, not by flipping this one. The landmarks arrive in the opposite order, the sun is somewhere else entirely, and the answer changes with them.

Keep nerding