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San Francisco → Minneapolis

SFO–MSP · San Francisco International Airport to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Good betA real difference, not a rounding error.

Badlands leads it, with 3 more on the same side.

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.

SFO to MSP: 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.SFOMSPLEFT 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. Golden Gate

    LeftEarly15 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

  2. San Francisco Bay

    Either sideEarly1 mi off the route

    Whether San Francisco Bay appears comes down to how you get out of SFO, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

  3. Lake Tahoe

    LeftEarly33 mi off the route

    Look left early in the flight for Lake Tahoe, about 33 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Great Salt Lake

    Either sideHalfway5 mi off the route

    Great Salt Lake passes almost directly beneath around the halfway mark, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  5. Wasatch Range

    RightHalfway56 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Wasatch Range sits roughly 56 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  6. Bear Lake

    LeftHalfway35 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Bear Lake, about 35 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Black Hills

    LeftThree quarters36 mi off the route

    Black Hills is about 36 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Distant possibility

  8. Badlands

    LeftThree quarters15 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Badlands sits roughly 15 miles to the left.

    Good 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

1,585 mi
Great-circle distance
62°
Course out of SFO
82°
Course into MSP
5
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?

Minneapolis → San FranciscoRight 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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