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UpToWhere Can you see it?

Can you see Mount Rainier from Council Crest Park, Portland?

Yes, you can

167 km line of sight toward the north-northeast (bearing 26°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

The answer

Yes. Mount Rainier is visible from Council Crest Park, Portland: a clear 167 km line of sight, and after Earth's curvature drops the target 1,913 m, its top still stands 2,176 m above eye level.

Portland counts its volcanoes on a clear day and Rainier is the far one: 150 km north, in another state, and still the largest thing on the skyline. From the city's highest park, does it clear the Cascade foothills standing in between?

Straight-line distance167 km
Direction26° north-northeast
Observer eye level327 m
Target elevation4,415 m
Curvature drop at the target1,913 m
Above your eye level2,176 m

From Council Crest Park, Portland, at an eye level of 327 m, the sightline to Mount Rainier runs 167 km and clears every ridge in between. Over that distance Earth's curvature drops the target 1,913 m below a flat-earth line, but at 4,415 m, it still rises above the horizon. The view is geometrically real: whether you actually get it depends on haze, not terrain.

The terrain profile

0 m2,000 m4,000 m sea level (curved) sightlineCouncil Crest ParkMount Rainier 0 km167 km50100150
Elevation profile from Council Crest Park, Portland to Mount Rainier. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈10× here), but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 550 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 Mount Rainier from Council Crest Park, Portland?

Yes. The terrain-limited line of sight is clear across 167 km, accounting for Earth's curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. Atmospheric haze is the only thing that can hide the view.

How far is Mount Rainier from Council Crest Park, Portland in a straight line?

167 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of 26° (north-northeast).

How much does Earth's curvature hide over 167 km?

At the target's distance the curvature drop is about 1,913 m: anything lower than that (relative to the observer's horizon plane) is hidden behind the bulge of the Earth. Mount Rainier 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.

More famous sightlines

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