Seeing Grand Prismatic Spring from a plane

6 ★ best score on our routes · rated 6 of 10

Photo: Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Grand Prismatic, about 370 ft across, is the largest hot spring in the US, with rings of orange microbe mats around a deep blue center. Old Faithful, a few miles south, erupts roughly every 90 minutes.

35 of our routes pass it. Wyoming

The easy pick

Denver to Tokyo: sit on the right, 55 min after takeoff.

Which side, by route

From the real paths of every nonstop on these routes in the last 10 days, at the usual time of day. Where the best seat for the whole flight is on the other side, you'd trade this sight for more elsewhere.

Questions

Which side of the plane do you see Grand Prismatic Spring from?

It depends on the direction: the right on most of our routes (20 of 35). The table lists each route's side.

When can you see Grand Prismatic Spring from a plane?

Mid-flight: see the table for when on each route.

Do clouds matter?

Yes. These answers assume a clear day. Within 3 days of your flight, pick your exact flight in the app for the cloud forecast.

More

Yellowstone Lake Electric Peak Hilgard Peak Grand Teton Granite Peak Atlanta (ATL) Charlotte (CLT) Seattle (SEA) Chicago (ORD) All routes