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Salt Lake City → Seattle

SLC–SEA · Salt Lake City International Airport to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Mount Rainier is the main event, and it has company: 3 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.

SLC to SEA: 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.SLCSEALEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 94 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. Great Salt Lake

    Either sideEarly4 mi off the route

    Great Salt Lake passes almost directly beneath early in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  2. Sawtooth Range

    RightHalfway49 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Sawtooth Range sits roughly 49 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Wallowa Mountains

    RightHalfway34 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for Wallowa Mountains, about 34 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Mount Hood

    LeftThree quarters94 mi off the route

    Mount Hood is about 94 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Adams

    LeftNear the end43 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Mount Adams sits roughly 43 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. Mount St. Helens

    LeftNear the end64 mi off the route

    Look left late in the flight for Mount St. Helens, about 64 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Mount Rainier

    LeftNear the end16 mi off the route

    Mount Rainier is about 16 miles off the left, late in the flight.

    Strong candidate

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

688 mi
Great-circle distance
315°
Course out of SLC
308°
Course into SEA
6
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?

Seattle → Salt Lake CityRight 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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