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Window Seat

Sacramento → Austin

SMF–AUS · Sacramento International Airport to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport

Best bet

Right side

Good betA real difference, not a rounding error.

San Francisco Peaks 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.

SMF to AUS: 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.SMFAUSLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 50 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. Lake Tahoe

    LeftEarly50 mi off the route

    Lake Tahoe is about 50 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  2. Half Dome

    RightEarly31 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Half Dome sits roughly 31 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Mono Lake

    Either sideEarly4 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  4. Lake Mead

    RightQuarter in36 mi off the route

    Lake Mead is about 36 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Grand Canyon

    Either sideHalfway1 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  6. San Francisco Peaks

    RightHalfway39 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for San Francisco Peaks, about 39 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Painted Desert

    Either sideHalfway6 mi off the route

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

    Good possibility

  8. Petrified Forest

    RightHalfway15 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Petrified Forest sits roughly 15 miles to the right.

    Distant 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

1,479 mi
Great-circle distance
106°
Course out of SMF
120°
Course into AUS
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?

Austin → SacramentoLeft 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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