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Oakland → Bellingham

OAK–BLI · Oakland International Airport to Bellingham International Airport

Best bet

Right side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Crater Lake is the main event, and it has company: 9 more worth looking at out the right.

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.

OAK to BLI: 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.OAKBLILEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678910111213141516
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 65 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. Mount Shasta

    Either sideQuarter in6 mi off the route

    Mount Shasta passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  2. Crater Lake

    RightHalfway13 mi off the route

    Crater Lake is about 13 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Strong candidate

  3. Mount St. Helens

    RightThree quarters13 mi off the route

    Mount St. Helens is about 13 miles off the right, about three quarters of the way.

    Strong candidate

  4. Mount Rainier

    RightThree quarters34 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Mount Rainier sits roughly 34 miles to the right.

    Strong candidate

Show 12 more along the way (Golden Gate, Lassen Peak, Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, Columbia River Gorge, Mount Adams, Puget Sound, Olympic Mountains, Glacier Peak, San Juan Islands, Mount Baker)

Further off the route, closer to an airport, or both. Still in flight order, still numbered to match the diagram.

  1. Golden Gate

    LeftEarly14 mi off the route

    Golden Gate sits close enough to OAK that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. Lassen Peak

    RightQuarter in41 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Lassen Peak sits roughly 41 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Three Sisters

    RightHalfway31 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Three Sisters sits roughly 31 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  4. Mount Jefferson

    RightThree quarters30 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Mount Jefferson, about 30 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Hood

    RightThree quarters36 mi off the route

    Mount Hood is about 36 miles off the right, about three quarters of the way.

    Good possibility

  6. Columbia River Gorge

    RightThree quarters31 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Columbia River Gorge sits roughly 31 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  7. Mount Adams

    RightThree quarters46 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Mount Adams, about 46 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  8. Puget Sound

    Either sideNear the end3 mi off the route

    Puget Sound passes almost directly beneath late in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  9. Olympic Mountains

    LeftNear the end62 mi off the route

    Olympic Mountains is about 62 miles off the left, late in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  10. Glacier Peak

    RightNear the end65 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Glacier Peak sits roughly 65 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  11. San Juan Islands

    LeftNear the end23 mi off the route

    San Juan Islands sits close enough to BLI that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  12. Mount Baker

    RightNear the end33 mi off the route

    Whether Mount Baker appears comes down to how you come into BLI, 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

765 mi
Great-circle distance
11
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?

Bellingham → OaklandLeft 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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