Best Skyline Views from any Road

[vtk]

Where is the earliest (most distant) "first view" of a skyline from a particular road?

Sometimes at night at the north end of the freeway section of 23 at Chillicothe I think I can see a bit of the Columbus skyline, but maybe that's my imagination augmenting some antennas.

Checking Google Earth, I think it's not my imagination:


That's 37 miles, and quite possibly the winner for Columbus.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

You can see a good glimpse of downtown Minneapolis from I-35W northbound about 15 miles out. Otherwise you can't see either of the Twin Cities pretty much until you're on top of them.

[jmd41280]

Though you can't really tell from this Google Street View shot, here is the first glimpse of Pittsburgh from I-79 north.  If you zoom in all the way, you can see the top of the US Steel Building on the horizon.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.338095,-80.132536,3a,90y,44.95h,74.02t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sUPDNmqww3f-FLTV-j_dZcA!2e0

[empirestate]

Where is the earliest (most distant) "first view" of a skyline from a particular road?

Sometimes at night at the north end of the freeway section of 23 at Chillicothe I think I can see a bit of the Columbus skyline, but maybe that's my imagination augmenting some antennas.

Checking Google Earth, I think it's not my imagination:


That's 37 miles, and quite possibly the winner for Columbus.

That's clever, can we get that for some other cities?

[vtk]

That's clever, can we get that for some other cities?

What I've done here is simply verify the line of sight.  If you have specific candidates for long-distance skyline views but you're not sure that's really what you're seeing, I can check whether the geometry/geography is right.

[busman_49]

Akron, Ohio, viewed from Rand St:
P1020026 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

[mapman1071]

Heading south on Arizona 51 approaching Northern Avenue, you get a brief view of downtown Phoenix off in the distance.

Add to that South on 7th St coming out of North Mountain/Pointe at Tapitio Cliffs.

Both of these are good views at night.

[hobsini2]

My favorite view of the Chicago Skyline is from the Adler Planetarium at the end of Solidarity Dr.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH2

[Sam]

Which brings up an interesting side question: Where is the earliest (most distant) "first view" of a skyline from a particular road?

Sometimes you can see the Toronto skyline from US 20A near NY 77 if the weather and foliage are cooperating. That's about 70 miles as the crow flies. The Lewiston-Queenston bridge is a sure bet, though.

[cl94]

Which brings up an interesting side question: Where is the earliest (most distant) "first view" of a skyline from a particular road?

Sometimes you can see the Toronto skyline from US 20A near NY 77 if the weather and foliage are cooperating. That's about 70 miles as the crow flies. The Lewiston-Queenston bridge is a sure bet, though.

Agree. Saw it the other night at the Erie/Wyoming county line. Large, rapid drop in elevation just west of there. Easy to spot because it isn't Buffalo (closest) or Niagara Falls (next closest) and there are bright lights. Definitely during the day if it's clear.

[relaxok]

I don't think there's any competition here.

US-101 south toward San Francisco exiting the tunnel right before the Golden Gate Bridge.

On a sunny, clear day, it's absolutely magnificent.

Now, of course, I can't find a proper photo of this view online.

[hobsini2]

Which brings up an interesting side question: Where is the earliest (most distant) "first view" of a skyline from a particular road?

Sometimes you can see the Toronto skyline from US 20A near NY 77 if the weather and foliage are cooperating. That's about 70 miles as the crow flies. The Lewiston-Queenston bridge is a sure bet, though.

Well you can see the Sears Tower in Chicago on a clear day on the ramp from 355 South to 55 North in Bolingbrook. That's about 30 miles. On I-55 itself, you have to wait until you get to Illinois 83 Kingery Hwy.

[kkt]

I don't think there's any competition here.

US-101 south toward San Francisco exiting the tunnel right before the Golden Gate Bridge.

On a sunny, clear day, it's absolutely magnificent.

Now, of course, I can't find a proper photo of this view online.

This one gives some idea, although it's a night view and not from right on the road.  Setting up your tripod in 101 would be a bad move...

[Zeffy]

Just across the river in Windsor, Ontario, you can find some pretty nice views of Detroit:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@42.320032,-83.040885,3a,66.1y,344.31h,89.47t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sl5WYy4FAQirWF9L9umgljg!2e0

[bugo]

The IDL (Inner Dispersal Loop, I-244 and I-444) have some excellent views of downtown Tulsa especially on the east and west legs. The north stretch has some nice views as well, but the southern leg which is also US 64-75-OK 51 is a below-grade freeway and views are hard to come by. There's also a spot on the Tisdale Parkway (I-144 on 4/1) where you go around a curve and there's a beautiful view of the skyline.

I-30 provides some nice views of the Little Rock skyline.

And of course, the grandaddy of them all, I-279 (I think it's I-376 now) through the Fort Pitt tunnel gives a great view of downtown Pittsburgh which is legendary among road enthusiasts.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

This is an amazing view of Boston in Walpole right next to the Boston View Motel. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.142214,-71.217747,3a,15y,28.59h,89.99t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1skxwN6LioVVHfw_kFTdum8w!2e0

[SignGeek101]

Well, I can't believe I forgot this one. I used to live here:

http://goo.gl/maps/Q0ct8

[PHLBOS]

GSV for the area doesn't do justice; but on a clear day, one can get a good distance view of the Boston skyline along Ocean Ave. in Marblehead Neck (just east of the Causeway & Devereux Beach).

Similar can be said for parts of Puritan Road and Humphery St. (MA 129) along Kings Beach in Swampscott as well as Lynn Shore Drive along Lynn Beach (GSV's no help because one needs the right weather & visibility conditions in order to see Boston's skyline).

One with a reasonably decent GSV is along Nahant Rd./Causeway in Nahant, MA.

For Philadelphia, one a very clear day when there's no leaves on the trees (GSV doesn't do justice here as well); one can get a good distant view of Philly's skyline along MacDade Blvd. near the MacDade Mall just outside of Glenolden, PA.