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UpToWhere · Can you see it?

Can you see Mount Teide, Tenerife from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria?

Yes — you can

111 km line of sight toward the west-northwest (bearing -72°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

Spain's highest peak rising over a sea of clouds, seen from the summit plateau of the neighbouring island — one of the Canaries' defining views, and a perfect demonstration of how altitude beats distance.

3D terrain view from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria toward Mount Teide, Tenerife
Straight-line distance111 km
Direction-72° west-northwest
Observer eye level1,948 m
Target elevation3,706 m
Curvature drop at the target834 m
Clearance margin+14 m

From Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria, at an eye level of 1,948 m, the sightline to Mount Teide, Tenerife runs 111 km and clears every ridge in between. Over that distance Earth's curvature drops the target 834 m below a flat-earth line — but at 3,706 m, it still rises above the horizon. The view is geometrically real: whether you actually get it depends on haze, not terrain. The tightest squeeze is mid-path, where the sightline passes just 14 m above the terrain at km 111.

The line on the map

Satellite map with the sightline from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria to Mount Teide, Tenerife drawn in red
The 111 km sightline over satellite imagery, drawn as the great-circle path light would follow.

The terrain profile

-0 m2,000 m4,000 m6,000 m sightlinePico de las NievesMount Teide 0 km111 km255075100
Elevation profile from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria to Mount Teide, Tenerife. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈5× here) — but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 240 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.
Check your own two points with the calculator →

Frequently asked questions

Can you see Mount Teide, Tenerife from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria?

Yes. The terrain-limited line of sight is clear across 111 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 Teide, Tenerife from Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria in a straight line?

111 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of -72° (west-northwest).

How much does Earth's curvature hide over 111 km?

At the target's distance the curvature drop is about 834 m: anything lower than that (relative to the observer's horizon plane) is hidden behind the bulge of the Earth. Mount Teide, Tenerife 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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