United States observation tower
Portland Observatory
You can see 112 km from here, looking north-west.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 112 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 112 kmFarthest ridgelooking north-west
- 100%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 22%Seaof the circle where the horizon is the sea
- 77Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 44 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 77 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are from August to September.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Febwest4 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Marwest6 min before the sea-level sunset36%
- Aprwest6 min before the sea-level sunset38%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset34%
- Junnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset38%
- Julnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset45%
- Augwest4 min before the sea-level sunset50%
- Sepwest6 min before the sea-level sunset51%
- Octwest6 min before the sea-level sunset40%
- Novsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset34%
- Decsouth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset28%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Portland Observatory.
Signal and observation tower in Maine, United States
Portland Observatory is an observation tower in United States, 44 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 112 km away, looking north-west.
The sea fills 22% of the horizon.
77 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Mount Washington (1,917 m), 108 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 100% of the circle.
The skies are clearest from August to September.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.Official site↗
- Fortlandcampsite · 3.3 km · 4 within 10 km
- Black Elephant Hostelplace to stay · 0.6 km · 56 within 10 km
- Portlandnearest town · 1.2 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in PortlandBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Portland International Jetport (PWM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 5 km in a straight lineCar hire at PWM airport (Portland)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 4other viewpoints within 5 kmFishermans Point, Fort Sumner Park and 2 more
- 6named peaks within 5 kmGraves Hill, Meetinghouse Hill, Rocky Hill and 3 more
- 6marked trails within 3 kmBayside Trail, Canco Woods, Mackworth Island Trail and 3 more
- 14shelters and huts within 5 kmThe Depot Pavilion, Eastern Promenade Bandstand, Point Gazebo and 11 more
- 489car parks within 3 km
- 173restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 4campsites within 10 kmFortland, South Site, North Site and 1 more
- 56places to stay within 10 kmBlack Elephant Hostel, Hampton Inn Portland Downtown/Waterfront, Hilton Garden Inn Portland Downtown Waterfront and 53 more
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
- visitor centres within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Portland Observatory, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas48 mountains within 25 km
Coastya7 beaches within 10 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 km
Forestyas1 forests and trees within 15 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Portland Observatory
United States
- 81Viewyas Score
- 112 kmFarthest ridge
- 77Peaks in view
- 44 mAltitude
Mount Washington
United States · 108 km
- 83Viewyas Score
- 206 kmFarthest ridge
- 94Peaks in view
- 1,907 mAltitude
Grande roue de Montréal
Canada · 332 km
- 74Viewyas Score
- 130 kmFarthest ridge
- 34Peaks in view
- 13 mAltitude
Montreal Tower
Canada · 336 km
- 74Viewyas Score
- 127 kmFarthest ridge
- 35Peaks in view
- 43 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q2105180) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Coastya, Lakeyas, Forestyas, Darkskyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit