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Los Angeles → Washington

LAX–IAD · Los Angeles International Airport to Washington Dulles 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.

LAX to IAD: 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.LAXIADLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 43 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. San Gorgonio Mountain

    RightEarly21 mi off the route

    San Gorgonio Mountain is about 21 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Good possibility

  2. San Jacinto Peak

    RightEarly43 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, San Jacinto Peak sits roughly 43 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Grand Canyon

    LeftQuarter in25 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Grand Canyon, about 25 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. San Francisco Peaks

    RightQuarter in32 mi off the route

    San Francisco Peaks is about 32 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  5. Canyon de Chelly

    RightQuarter in13 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Canyon de Chelly sits roughly 13 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  6. Shiprock

    LeftQuarter in13 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Shiprock, about 13 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Sangre de Cristo Mountains

    LeftQuarter in27 mi off the route

    Sangre de Cristo Mountains is about 27 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

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

2,283 mi
Great-circle distance
69°
Course out of LAX
94°
Course into IAD
7
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?

Washington → Los AngelesEither 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.

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