Skylines/buildings/objects viewed from unusual vantage points?

[Buffaboy]

So this isn't a typical General Highway Talk thread, but I think it can go further.

When I was driving Northbound US 219 in Orchard Park, NY today, I noticed a building 11 miles away, which I assumed was the VA Hospital in Buffalo. I checked on Google Maps and confirmed this was the case.



Another time I noticed a skyline was when I was driving on I-90 eastbound past Rochester. If you look right before the (I think) Genesee River bridge, you can see the skyline.

On a clear day you can see Toronto from Robert Moses Parkway in Lewiston.

[briantroutman]

One of my favorite examples of this: Crossing the summit of Camino Alto between Corte Madera and Mill Valley, you catch a brief but impressively complete glimpse of San Francisco's Financial District, Alcatraz, and the Bay Bridge. Coincidentally, this is also a distance of about 11 miles. It looks much more impressive in person than on GSV.

Street View: https://goo.gl/maps/HiV3hikxy6y

[jmd41280]

One of my favorite views is this view of the Pittsburgh skyline from 36 miles away.  This is the view from PA 31 as it descends Chestnut Ridge (the westernmost ridge of the Laurel Highlands).

Pittsburgh skyline from Three Mile Hill - Acme, PA by Jon Dawson, on Flickr

[jwolfer]

On a clear day you can see from Green Cove Springs,FL from the US 17 bridge over Governors Creek to downtown Jacksonville skyline up the St Johns River about 25 miles away.. Ill get a pic one day

LGMS428

[Max Rockatansky]

On a clear day you can see downtown Orlando from FL 50 west of the city in Clermont at this point on an almost 300 foot ridge:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5466601,-81.7188599,3a,75y,97.15h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXqz9MSgfGg-FvUZmNcusVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Considering that is almost twenty five miles west of downtown that is a pretty good sight line for Florida and pretty damn telling how flat the state really is.

[empirestate]

So this isn't a typical General Highway Talk thread, but I think it can go further.

When I was driving Northbound US 219 in Orchard Park, NY today, I noticed a building 11 miles away, which I assumed was the VA Hospital in Buffalo. I checked on Google Maps and confirmed this was the case.

Not that this is in any way conclusive, but playing in Google Earth I have a hard time getting the VA hospital to be visible. I can, however, prominently see the ECMC (a little to the left of the rhumb line you've drawn).

[Buffaboy]

^^ I spoke with too much certainty in my OP. It actually could have been ECMC now that I think about it.

When I drive up the 219 again I'll try and keep an eye out for subtleties, but I'm not going to run off the road trying to examine it  .

That Camino Alto is pretty cool as well.

[slorydn1]

I'm kind of hamstrung because I don't know the lay of the land some 30 years later, but back in the 80's one could see the Chicago skyline relatively clearly from the eastern areas of Schaumburg, especially from 290/53, would be roughly 30 miles away.

[kphoger]

I grew up in western Kansas.  At night sometimes, if the atmospheric conditions were just right, the lights of a town beyond the horizon would reflect off the atmosphere such that the town appeared to be at or even before the horizon–i.e., the town appeared to be in a location where there was no town.

This was a pretty well-known phenomenon out there, and I personally witnessed it several times.  However, very few people out in this neck of the woods have heard of such a thing, and I can't seem to find any information about it online.  Does anyone know what this phenomenon is called?

[pianocello]

I'm pretty sure you can see the US Capitol straight ahead on SB New Hampshire Ave just south of the Beltway in Silver Spring, MD, 9 miles away. (Link to GSV, although the image isn't as clear as it is in real life).

It seems too far away to be the Capitol, but I can't think of any other domed structures directly in line with that stretch of New Hampshire. Maybe a DC-area poster could confirm?

[jmd41280]

I grew up in western Kansas.  At night sometimes, if the atmospheric conditions were just right, the lights of a town beyond the horizon would reflect off the atmosphere such that the town appeared to be at or even before the horizon–i.e., the town appeared to be in a location where there was no town.

This was a pretty well-known phenomenon out there, and I personally witnessed it several times.  However, very few people out in this neck of the woods have heard of such a thing, and I can't seem to find any information about it online.  Does anyone know what this phenomenon is called?

I think you're talking about a super refraction.  A good example of such an event has periodically occurred in Cleveland, OH when you can see the Canadian shore across Lake Erie under the right atmospheric conditions.

http://www.newsnet5.com/weather/weather-news/rare-weather-phenomenon-allows-northern-ohioans-to-see-canadian-shoreline

http://www.newsnet5.com/weather/weather-news/more-sightings-of-the-canadian-shoreline-from-northern-ohio-thanks-to-super-refraction

[jeffandnicole]

I always liked this view here, although it's much better at night.  This is Grove Road in West Deptford, NJ: https://goo.gl/maps/S2kDA5HsiTJ2 .  Perfectly in line with the road, between the streets, is a building that looks like it's slightly beyond the horizon.  It's actually the Cira Building along I-76 near I-676 in Philly, which is normally beautifully lit at night (and appears much closer than it is).  As the crow flies, the distance is a little over 9 miles away.

Another view of Philly from Mantua, NJ which I grew up seeing quite often, from about 12.5 miles away. https://goo.gl/maps/YENRnC8ywev

As I lived in that town growing up, after they built One Liberty Place which was then the tallest building in Philly, I could go out to the road in front of my house, and at a certain point thru the trees, see the very top of it.  I haven't tried looking again for many years to see if it's still visible.

[ColossalBlocks]

At the Eckert's in Millstadt, IL, you have a faint view of the St Louis arch.

https://goo.gl/maps/mZcnMLpcwWM2

[Scott5114]

You can see the Oklahoma City skyline from SH-9 in McClain County, between Newcastle and Goldsby. A hair under 20 miles.

[jakeroot]

One that's always been interesting to me is downtown Seattle from near Manchester State Park. Manchester is across Elliott Bay from Seattle by about five miles, but it is incredibly difficult to reach either from the other. It's an hour's drive to and from the nearest bridge near Tacoma (2 hour drive total), or an hour ferry ride between Bremerton and Seattle, plus a 30/40 minute drive between Bremerton and Manchester. More interesting is that walking around Manchester, you feel like you're deep in the forest near no one else, but then you stumble out to the beach, and you're suddenly presented with this bustling metropolis mere miles away. Was a trip for me when I went camping there with Scouts five years ago:

[epzik8]

From the I-895 Spur going north in between Baltimore city limits and Glen Burnie, Maryland, you can see much of downtown Baltimore's skyline and the purple seats of M&T Bank Stadium. I think the University of Maryland Medical Center, the home of Shock Trauma, is partly visible as well. The I-895 Spur is the connector between I-895, I-97 and Route 2.

And back in 2008 I spotted a McDonald's sign from a viewing station at Laurel Caverns near Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

[noelbotevera]

On PA 26 a couple miles north of Whipple Dam State Park, there is a vista where you can see State College, 10 miles away.

[bulldog1979]

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is visible from Lebanon Road in Shiloh, Illinois, east of Green Mount Road. You can also see it from the Chain of Rocks Bridge, although there you're looking at the northern edge, making it harder to see.

[jmd41280]

And back in 2008 I spotted a McDonald's sign from a viewing station at Laurel Caverns near Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

You can also see the Pittsburgh skyline (47 miles away) from Laurel Caverns. 

Speaking of Pittsburgh, you can also see the skyline (22 miles away) from PA 56 as it crests a hill between Leechburg and Lower Burrell.

Pittsburgh Skyline from near Lower Burrell, PA by Jon Dawson, on Flickr

[Bruce]

This thread might be of interest: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=204074

Here's my contributions to the thread:

Seattle from afar, descending in distance (as the crow files):

Lakewood - 38 miles


Seattle skyline, from above Lakewood by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Zoomed in:



Northgate - 6 miles


I-5 looking south from NE 92nd Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Eastgate (with Bellevue) - 9 miles (zoom in)


Seattle and Bellevue skylines from Eastgate P&R by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[Road Hog]

From the top of the football stadium in Little Elm, which is about 25 miles out, you can see the Dallas skyline clearly with a set of binoculars.

[Max Rockatansky]

From the eastern end of SW 328th Street east of Florida City downtown Miami can be seen to the north.  SW 328th Street dead ends at the Biscayne National Park visitor center parking lot.

[Buffaboy]

This thread might be of interest: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=204074

Here's my contributions to the thread:

Seattle from afar, descending in distance (as the crow files):

Lakewood - 38 miles


Seattle skyline, from above Lakewood by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Zoomed in:



Northgate - 6 miles


I-5 looking south from NE 92nd Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Eastgate (with Bellevue) - 9 miles (zoom in)


Seattle and Bellevue skylines from Eastgate P&R by SounderBruce, on Flickr

As a fellow member I'll be sure to check that thread out.

That Cleveland this is pretty interesting...I wonder if it can be seen from the downtown area.

And to show that TO can be seen from Robert Moses Parkway, here is a picture from an escarpment:

[ColossalBlocks]

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is visible from Lebanon Road in Shiloh, Illinois, east of Green Mount Road. You can also see it from the Chain of Rocks Bridge, although there you're looking at the northern edge, making it harder to see.

Well, i never been to Shiloh before, and they torn down the Chain Of Rocks years ago.

[theline]

I grew up in western Kansas.  At night sometimes, if the atmospheric conditions were just right, the lights of a town beyond the horizon would reflect off the atmosphere such that the town appeared to be at or even before the horizon–i.e., the town appeared to be in a location where there was no town.

This was a pretty well-known phenomenon out there, and I personally witnessed it several times.  However, very few people out in this neck of the woods have heard of such a thing, and I can't seem to find any information about it online.  Does anyone know what this phenomenon is called?

I think you're talking about a super refraction.  A good example of such an event has periodically occurred in Cleveland, OH when you can see the Canadian shore across Lake Erie under the right atmospheric conditions.

http://www.newsnet5.com/weather/weather-news/rare-weather-phenomenon-allows-northern-ohioans-to-see-canadian-shoreline

http://www.newsnet5.com/weather/weather-news/more-sightings-of-the-canadian-shoreline-from-northern-ohio-thanks-to-super-refraction

This phenomenon sometimes allows people to see the Chicago skyline from beaches in Berrien County, Michigan, from 45 to 60 miles away. I heard that the skyline sometimes appears upside down.