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Portland → Bellingham

PDX–BLI · Portland International Airport to Bellingham International Airport

Best bet

Right side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Mount Rainier is the main event, and it has company: 2 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.

PDX 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.PDXBLILEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 59 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. Columbia River Gorge

    RightEarly39 mi off the route

    Columbia River Gorge sits close enough to PDX that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. Mount St. Helens

    RightQuarter in19 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Mount St. Helens sits roughly 19 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  3. Mount Adams

    RightQuarter in52 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Mount Adams, about 52 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Mount Rainier

    RightHalfway39 mi off the route

    Mount Rainier is about 39 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Good possibility

  5. Olympic Mountains

    LeftThree quarters59 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Olympic Mountains sits roughly 59 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. Puget Sound

    Either sideThree quarters6 mi off the route

    Puget Sound passes almost directly beneath about three quarters of the way, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  7. San Juan Islands

    LeftNear the end22 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

  8. 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

221 mi
Great-circle distance
1°
Course out of PDX
1°
Course into BLI
4
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 → PortlandLeft 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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