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St. Louis → San Diego

STL–SAN · St. Louis Lambert International Airport to San Diego International Airport

Best bet

Right side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Salton Sea is the main event, and it has company: 5 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.

STL to SAN: 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.STLSANLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 52 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. Rio Grande Gorge

    RightHalfway21 mi off the route

    Rio Grande Gorge is about 21 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  2. Petrified Forest

    Either sideThree quarters1 mi off the route

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

    Good possibility

  3. Painted Desert

    RightThree quarters32 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Painted Desert, about 32 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Meteor Crater

    RightThree quarters18 mi off the route

    Meteor Crater is about 18 miles off the right, about three quarters of the way.

    Distant possibility

  5. San Francisco Peaks

    RightThree quarters52 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, San Francisco Peaks sits roughly 52 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  6. Sedona red rocks

    RightThree quarters22 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Sedona red rocks, about 22 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Salton Sea

    RightNear the end8 mi off the route

    Salton Sea is about 8 miles off the right, late in the flight.

    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

1,554 mi
Great-circle distance
263°
Course out of STL
247°
Course into SAN
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?

San Diego → St. LouisLeft 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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