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St. Louis → San Francisco

STL–SFO · St. Louis Lambert International Airport to San Francisco International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Mono Lake is the main event, and it has company: 5 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.

STL 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.STLSFOLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 40 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. Pikes Peak

    LeftHalfway34 mi off the route

    Pikes Peak is about 34 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  2. Mount Elbert

    LeftHalfway12 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Mount Elbert sits roughly 12 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  3. Maroon Bells

    LeftHalfway14 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Maroon Bells, about 14 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Arches National Park

    LeftHalfway28 mi off the route

    Arches National Park is about 28 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mono Lake

    LeftNear the end10 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Mono Lake sits roughly 10 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  6. Half Dome

    LeftNear the end23 mi off the route

    Look left late in the flight for Half Dome, about 23 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. San Francisco Bay

    Either sideNear the end1 mi off the route

    San Francisco Bay 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

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

1,731 mi
Great-circle distance
278°
Course out of STL
257°
Course into SFO
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 Francisco → St. LouisRight 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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