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Most states you can see in one place?

Started by woodpusher, December 05, 2015, 04:27:52 PM

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cpzilliacus

Quote from: vegas1962 on January 17, 2016, 07:32:05 PM
Supposedly, on the clearest day, one can see a radius of up to 100 miles from the observation tower at Clingman's Dome on the TN-NC border in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  From there, I presume that you could also see SC, GA, VA and maybe KY.

North of Clingman's Dome, the view from Mount Mitchell (highest point in North America east of the Mississippi River and south of the Canadian Arctic) off the Blue Ridge Parkway is similarly impressive on a clear day.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.


Quillz

About the farthest you can see from Mt. Whitney is 190 miles away... The peak of San Gorgonio Mountain is visible.

Rothman

Quote from: Quillz on January 29, 2016, 12:14:24 PM
About the farthest you can see from Mt. Whitney is 190 miles away... The peak of San Gorgonio Mountain is visible.

Isn't San Gorgonio in southern California?
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Quillz

Quote from: Rothman on January 29, 2016, 01:12:33 PM
Quote from: Quillz on January 29, 2016, 12:14:24 PM
About the farthest you can see from Mt. Whitney is 190 miles away... The peak of San Gorgonio Mountain is visible.

Isn't San Gorgonio in southern California?
Yes, implying that you can't see all that many states from Whitney... Probably Nevada, and that's it.

Rothman

#54
Here's the view I had from the summit, looking east (in 2012).



Owens Valley just dominates the view.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

jfs1988

From the New Mexico State Welcome Center & Rest Area along Interstate 10 westbound in Anthony you could see into Texas & the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

Vice Versa at Night. You could see into El Paso, TX & Anthony (TX,NM) from Samalyuca, Chihuahua. That's where the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso bypass toll road connects with Mexico Federal Highway 45. Of course, its about 40 miles away.

I don't think it counts though.  :hmmm:


I wonder if you could see into Sonora, Baja California, & California from the mountains of Yuma, AZ along Interstate 8. I passed through there a few years ago, but when the sun was setting.

Rothman

Actually, I did like driving I-10 eastbound at night from El Paso at night and looking south at the lights along the border in Mexico.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kkt

Quote from: Rothman on January 29, 2016, 10:30:04 PM
Here's the view I had from the summit, looking east (in 2012).

Owens Valley just dominates the view.

I'm looking at the bearing toward Lone Pine on the valley floor and its airport.  It looks like due east is near the right edge of that picture, so the bearing to Charleston Peak would be off the picture at little more to the right at bearing 98 degrees.  I'm seeing a couple of ridges in the distance past the first one and it's a hazy day, like you usually get there with how rare rains are.  It seems quite possible Charleston Peak would be visible if you caught it at the right time when it was clear.

US 41

#58
Quote from: Rothman on January 31, 2016, 12:23:31 AM
Actually, I did like driving I-10 eastbound at night from El Paso at night and looking south at the lights along the border in Mexico.

I have to admit that the view of Juarez from I-10 eastbound is very impressive. It's kind of weird seeing all those lights and knowing that it is a different country over there.

The view of Las Cruces at night on I-10 eastbound is also equally as impressive.

I would have stayed the night in Deming, NM and drove MEX 2 from Palomas to Ft Hancock if I had known that MEX 2 was still in the "Free Zone". I didn't have a computer with me so I was unable to look up where the garitas were and where I could purchase Mexican insurance. Turns out that even Janos is in the free zone and that the garita is south of there on MEX 10. I wish I had known that in November.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

StogieGuy7

Quote from: usends on January 26, 2016, 02:53:05 PM
Quote from: sandwalk on December 07, 2015, 07:32:02 PM
On top of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs you can obviously see Colorado, but on a clear day you can also see New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas, and....to my surprise, Oklahoma.
Does this information come from a reliable source?  I'd be really surprised if you could see anything in KS or OK.  Even if there were tall landforms in those states, I'd still be skeptical.  But there's not even that: Mt. Sunflower and Black Mesa are nothing more than nearly-imperceptible rises on Colorado ridges that happen to cross the state line, and those ridges decrease in elevation towards the east (i.e. along the sightline of someone standing on the summit of Pikes).

OTOH, could you see 5 states from Black Mesa in OK?  It is my understanding that Cimmaron County, OK is the only county in the USA that touches 5 states (counting it's own).  So that would be OK, NM, TX, KS and CO.  Honestly, I don't know because I've only flown over that area, but it seems plausible on a clear day.

kkt

Doesn't look good.  New Mexico and Colorado, yes.  But Black Mesa is about 4900 feet.  Towards Texas the view would be blocked by the 4700 foot ridges to the south.  The view towards Kansas also is block by surrounding ridges.  Needs more prominence.

paulthemapguy

Can't believe no one has mentioned the Sears Tower (Willis Tower, yeah yeah) in this thread.  From the top you can see clear across Lake Michigan to the Michigan and Indiana shorelines...and I think you can see points in Wisconsin if you look north, given it's about the same distance away as Michigan is?  Doesn't contend with the mountainous points mentioned earlier, but maybe there's something to be said for "most states visible due to manmade structures?"  :hmmm:
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kkt

Quote from: paulthemapguy on February 18, 2016, 04:49:29 PM
Can't believe no one has mentioned the Sears Tower (Willis Tower, yeah yeah) in this thread.  From the top you can see clear across Lake Michigan to the Michigan and Indiana shorelines...and I think you can see points in Wisconsin if you look north, given it's about the same distance away as Michigan is?  Doesn't contend with the mountainous points mentioned earlier, but maybe there's something to be said for "most states visible due to manmade structures?"  :hmmm:

Apollo 8 FTW

froggie

Quote from: paulthemapguy"most states visible due to manmade structures?"

The GOES West weather satellite basically sees all of the US and its possessions.  Every day.  Every 15 minutes.

Or if you're looking for manned structures, there's also the ISS.

paulthemapguy

And in this reply, I shall provide you with the "God damnit" you've all been waiting for.

God damnit.
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
My website! http://www.paulacrossamerica.com Now featuring all of Ohio!
My USA Shield Gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHwJRZk
TM Clinches https://bit.ly/2UwRs4O

National collection status: 361/425. Only 64 route markers remain

odditude

Quote from: paulthemapguy on February 18, 2016, 10:39:09 PM
And in this reply, I shall provide you with the "God damnit" you've all been waiting for.

God damnit.
*ahem* it's dammit, dammit ;)

KEVIN_224

Is any part of Pennsylvania visible from the Empire State Building's observation deck? I'm certain that you can see Connecticut with little trouble.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 19, 2016, 09:30:34 PM
Is any part of Pennsylvania visible from the Empire State Building's observation deck? I'm certain that you can see Connecticut with little trouble.

Supposedly yes, and likewise the taller 1 World Trade Center allows you to see PA also. But that would be on very clear, smog-free days, not many of which occur in North Jersey.

I guess to validate this, someone standing in PA should be able to see the top of the World Trade Center.

kkt

Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 19, 2016, 09:30:34 PM
Is any part of Pennsylvania visible from the Empire State Building's observation deck? I'm certain that you can see Connecticut with little trouble.

On the day that I was there, I could barely see New Jersey :)

jmd41280

From Dan's Rock (2,898 ft) in Maryland, you can see parts of MD, PA, WV, and VA.

http://www.summitpost.org/dan-s-rock-on-dan-s-mountain/153785
"Increase the Flash Gordon noise and put more science stuff around!"

Rothman

Quote from: jmd41280 on February 22, 2016, 10:06:15 PM
From Dan's Rock (2,898 ft) in Maryland, you can see parts of MD, PA, WV, and VA.

http://www.summitpost.org/dan-s-rock-on-dan-s-mountain/153785

There's got to be multiple places in MD's panhandle where this is possible.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

froggie

Theoretically, yes.  But a lot of those places are also forested.  For example, Maryland's highest point (Backbone Mtn) is scarcely 200yds from West Virginia, yet your views to the north and west are blocked by trees.

The High Plains Traveler

The World's Wonder View Tower is located on I-70 at Genoa, CO, a little ways east of Limon. It's near the edge of the High Plains before they drop off into the Denver Basin, so it's a high point along I-70 east of Denver. It's about 5400 feet elevation at this point, higher than downtown Denver, which is more than 100 miles west. The operators of this attraction, which was built in the 1920s, claim that on a good day you can see six states. I think these would be Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, and South Dakota. I haven't read anything to challenge this claim one way or the other; South Dakota seems a bit of a stretch, and there isn't much in Kansas east of there sticking up that would make it visible over the horizon.
"Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I."

usends

Quote from: The High Plains Traveler on February 23, 2016, 01:23:33 PM
The operators of this attraction, which was built in the 1920s, claim that on a good day you can see six states.
I loved the Tower.  It was a quinessential old-time kitschy tourist attraction, and definitely worth at least one visit.  As a roadgeek, I liked how you could get a good view of the original alignment of US 40-N (US 24's predecessor).  I also liked this old photo they had posted in the staircase.

Jerry Chubbuck, the man who had owned it since the '60s, was a great guy and a real character who played fast and loose with the facts for the sake of entertainment.  Unfortunately he died a few years back, and my understanding is that the Tower has been closed ever since, with most of the contents auctioned off.

I have some of their old promotional material, where they said "...always gaudy and gimmicky, on purpose!"  That's worth keeping in mind when evaluating their claims. 

In addition to the six states thing, they made some other dubious statements.  For example, "you can see the Grand Tetons, 500 miles distant, proved by Ripley!"  Yeah, right.  Notice they didn't technically infringe upon the term "Ripley's Believe It Or Not"... so who exactly was this "Ripley" they referenced?  (wink-wink)  They also said "...the Geological Survey reportedly confirmed..."  Is it significant that they didn't specify the U.S. Geological Survey"?
usends.com - US highway endpoints, photos, maps, and history

paulthemapguy

Quote from: Quillz on January 29, 2016, 07:26:50 PM
Quote from: Rothman on January 29, 2016, 01:12:33 PM
Quote from: Quillz on January 29, 2016, 12:14:24 PM
About the farthest you can see from Mt. Whitney is 190 miles away... The peak of San Gorgonio Mountain is visible.

Isn't San Gorgonio in southern California?
Yes, implying that you can't see all that many states from Whitney... Probably Nevada, and that's it.

Not seeing any other states, except maybe Nevada?  Sounds like most people from California  :-D  :bigass:  :spin:
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
My website! http://www.paulacrossamerica.com Now featuring all of Ohio!
My USA Shield Gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHwJRZk
TM Clinches https://bit.ly/2UwRs4O

National collection status: 361/425. Only 64 route markers remain



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