Can you see St Martin's, Isles of Scilly from Land's End, Cornwall?

Yes, just barely

41 km line of sight toward the west-southwest (bearing 255°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

The answer

Yes, but only just. Across 41 km the top of St Martin's, Isles of Scilly clears the horizon seen from Land's End, Cornwall by a few metres, so it shows on an exceptionally clear day and not on an ordinary one.

Stand at the last cliff in England on a clear evening and people will tell you the low grey line to the west is Scilly. Others will tell you it is cloud. The islands are 42 kilometres out, which is close enough for the argument to be worth settling.

Satellite map with the sightline from Land's End, Cornwall to St Martin's, Isles of Scilly drawn in red — The 41 km sightline over satellite imagery, drawn as the great-circle path light would follow.

Straight-line distance41 km

Direction255° west-southwest

Observer eye level70 m

Target elevation46 m

Curvature drop at the target115 m

Below your eye level138 m

This one is a grazing sightline: over 41 km, the summit of St Martin's, Isles of Scilly rises just barely above the apparent horizon seen from Land's End, Cornwall. In the 30 m terrain model the margin is only a few metres. In practice you would see the very top of St Martin's, Isles of Scilly on an exceptionally clear day, and nothing on an ordinary one.

The cliff at Land's End does most of the work here. From sea level the islands would be well under the horizon; from 68 metres of granite they are not, which is why the sighting is real but needs both height and an exceptionally clean evening. The Wolf Rock lighthouse, halfway out, is the usual first thing to appear.

The terrain profile

Elevation profile from Land's End, Cornwall to St Martin's, Isles of Scilly. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈15× here), but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 33 m above the straight line between the two points (the dashed arc is sea level). Light bends only slightly around that bulge, so whatever it covers stays hidden.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you see St Martin's, Isles of Scilly from Land's End, Cornwall?

Yes. The terrain-limited line of sight is clear across 41 km, accounting for Earth's curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. Atmospheric haze is the only thing that can hide the view.

How far is St Martin's, Isles of Scilly from Land's End, Cornwall in a straight line?

41 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of 255° (west-southwest).

How much does Earth's curvature hide over 41 km?

At the target's distance the curvature drop is about 115 m: anything lower than that (relative to the observer's horizon plane) is hidden behind the bulge of the Earth. St Martin's, Isles of Scilly is tall enough to rise above it.

How was this calculated?

UpToWhere walks the full terrain profile between the two points on 30 m-resolution Copernicus GLO-30 elevation data, applying Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction (k = 0.13), the same physics surveyors use. You can run the same point-to-point check between any two places on Earth.

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