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Seattle → San Francisco

SEA–SFO · Seattle–Tacoma International Airport to San Francisco International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Mount Shasta is the main event, and it has company: 8 more worth looking at out the left.

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.

SEA to SFO: 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.SEASFOLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789101112
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 45 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 Rainier

    LeftEarly26 mi off the route

    Mount Rainier is about 26 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Strong candidate

  2. Mount Adams

    LeftEarly40 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Mount Adams sits roughly 40 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  3. Mount St. Helens

    Either sideEarly6 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  4. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftQuarter in26 mi off the route

    Columbia River Gorge is about 26 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Hood

    LeftQuarter in31 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Mount Hood sits roughly 31 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  6. Mount Jefferson

    LeftQuarter in26 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Mount Jefferson, about 26 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Three Sisters

    LeftQuarter in28 mi off the route

    Three Sisters is about 28 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  8. Crater Lake

    LeftHalfway12 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Crater Lake sits roughly 12 miles to the left.

    Strong candidate

  9. Mount Shasta

    LeftThree quarters8 mi off the route

    Look left about three quarters of the way for Mount Shasta, about 8 miles out.

    Strong candidate

  10. Lassen Peak

    LeftThree quarters45 mi off the route

    Lassen Peak is about 45 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Distant possibility

  11. Golden Gate

    Either sideNear the end6 mi off the route

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

    Runway dependent

  12. San Francisco Bay

    Either sideNear the end8 mi off the route

    Whether San Francisco Bay appears comes down to how you come into SFO, 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

679 mi
Great-circle distance
180°
Course out of SEA
180°
Course into SFO
9
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?

San Francisco → SeattleRight 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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