Seeing Yosemite Valley / Half Dome from a plane

Half Dome's sheer granite face rises nearly 5,000 ft above the valley floor, and El Capitan's wall is about 3,000 ft. Look for the dome's flat cut side and the deep U-shaped valley carved by glaciers.

24 of our routes pass it. California · rated 9 of 10

The easy pick

Sacramento to Las Vegas: sit on the right, 17 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.

Questions

Which side of the plane do you see Yosemite Valley / Half Dome from?

It depends on the direction: the left on most of our routes (14 of 24). The table lists each route's side.

When can you see Yosemite Valley / Half Dome 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

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