# Seeing Mt Shasta from 250+ miles: how easy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 23, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068 "2025-11-23T19:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/1 "2025-11-23T19:06:15Z")
Like I said in the other thread, few airline passengers get a chance to see Mt Shasta from 300+ miles away, but lots of them get a chance from 250+ miles, and I wonder how easy it is. I never fly anywhere, so I’m hoping I can get some other people curious. The plan is to be in a left-side window seat on a flight from San Jose to Denver. If the flight follows the flight-plan route after it circles southeast of San Jose to gain altitude, it will likely go from the San Jose VOR (marker A on the map below) to BMRNG (marker B) to SYRAH (marker C). You’ll be climbing ENEward over Livermore at around 20000 feet. I assume Los Vaqueros Reservoir is easy to find, north of Livermore; the dam at the NE end of the reservoir and the Antioch bridge are the pointers to Mt Shasta. (You need the pointers so you know you’re not looking at Lassen Peak, a few degrees to the east of the line to Shasta.) ATC may well give you the short cut, direct to SYRAH from San Jose, in which case you’ll climb NEward over Tracy. So maybe you need other pointers in that case, and the Altamont Speedway looks good, just south of I-580 where it turns SE to join I-5. Clifton Court Forebay will be visible a few miles north; the line from the Speedway to Shasta passes [left of center](http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.80395,-121.56853&z=12&t=M&marker0=37.83751%252C-121.58140%252C6.9%20km%20NxNW%20of%20Mountain%20House%20CA) of the Forebay. The line from the Speedway to Lassen Peak is left of the east edge of the Forebay, maybe 5/6 of the way across it. Delta’s nonstop to MSP and Southwest to SLC are usually? farther north, so no pointers for them. Arrivals from the east into San Jose are farther south, and maybe lower, so I haven’t done the figuring for them yet. Flight plan route ( [ACME Mapper 2.2](http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.67023,-121.56921&z=10&t=M&marker0=37.37470%2C-121.94468%2C2.5%20km%20NxNE%20of%20Santa%20Clara%20CA&marker1=37.61694%2C-121.96584%2C37%2037%201%20n%20121%2057%2057%20w&marker2=37.99111%2C-121.10306%2C37%2059%2028%20n%20121%206%2011%20w) ) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/2 "2025-11-23T19:42:40Z")
It will be highly dependent on weather; on an even slightly hazy day you can’t even see Mt. Shasta from Redding. I’ve flown east from San Jose and San Francisco dozens of times and I never noticed being able to see Mt. Shasta, although I wasn’t specifically looking for it. I think it would need to be an exceptionally clear day to be able to see the mountain on an SJC-DEN flight. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/3 "2025-11-23T19:44:18Z")
That’s the question – how clear does it have to be. I bet at least a few days each winter will work. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/4 "2025-11-23T19:45:16Z")
> On a clear winter day, the mountain can be seen from the floor of the [Central Valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_(California) "Central Valley (California)") 140 miles (230 km) to the south. > **[Mount Shasta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Shasta)** > > Mount Shasta (/ˈʃæstə/ SHASS-tə; Shasta: Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki; Karuk: Úytaahkoo) is a potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 ft (4,322 m), it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state. Mount Shasta has an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles (350 cubic kilometers), which makes it the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. > The mountain an The origin o... > There is a five-mile hike to the top of Mt. St. Helena from which one can see much of the Bay Area. On good days the top of Mt. Shasta can be seen, 192 miles in the distance. > **[Robert Louis Stevenson State Park](https://stateparks.com/robert_louis_stevenson_state_park_in_california.html)** > > Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is the place where the famous author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped spent his honeymoon in 1880. Although nothing remains of Stevenson?s cabin, the site is identified on the trail to the summit. > On a clear day, Cascade Range peak views include Mount Adams (in Washington), Broken Top, Mount Jefferson, and even Mount Shasta (in California). > **[Paulina Peak | Visit Central Oregon](https://visitcentraloregon.com/things-to-do/attractions/paulina-peak/)** > > Experience one of the best views in Central Oregon! Learn about Paulina Peak near Bend at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument from Visit Central Oregon. Paulina Park is 165 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/5 "2025-11-23T20:44:55Z")
Seeing Mt Shasta from an eastward flight out of SFO or OAK isn’t rare at all, tho seeing it from SJC-DEN flights might be rare. And looks like arrivals from the east into any Bay Area airport have a poor chance – by the time they get clear of the Sierra foothills, they’re probably too low. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/6 "2025-11-24T01:50:43Z")
Back in my long-ago days as a naturalist on Mt. Diablo, I can vouch for mid-winter days, just after a storm, as the best viewing times. Freshly washed air was the best. Mt. Lassen, at 180 miles, was easy to see. Shasta, at 245 miles, was below the horizon, but supposedly visible some days due to diffraction. Never saw it myself from there. I wouldn’t worry about confusing Lassen with Shasta. If you can see Shasta, you can see both. So Shasta is the one on the left, toward the back. If you only see one, it’s Lassen. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-mt-shasta-from-250-miles-how-easy/1025068/7 "2025-11-24T13:29:13Z")
I used to fly the LAX-SEATAC route several times a year and I can’t recall ever seeing Shasta from the air. Crater Lake on almost every flight, but not Shasta.