United States observation tower
Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun
You can see 156 km from here, looking south-east.
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 156 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).
- 156 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-east
- 88%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 3Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 2,295 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 3 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 September to October.
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-west182 min before the sea-level sunset44%
- Febsouth-west154 min before the sea-level sunset43%
- Marsouth-west134 min before the sea-level sunset45%
- Aprwest68 min before the sea-level sunset45%
- Maywest38 min before the sea-level sunset44%
- Junnorth-west42 min before the sea-level sunset54%
- Julnorth-west38 min before the sea-level sunset53%
- Augwest58 min before the sea-level sunset53%
- Sepwest112 min before the sea-level sunset62%
- Octsouth-west144 min before the sea-level sunset56%
- Novsouth-west174 min before the sea-level sunset52%
- Decsouth-west186 min before the sea-level sunset44%
- 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
Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun.
Commemorative tower and chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun is an observation tower in United States, 2,295 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 156 km away, looking south-east.
3 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Pikes Peak (4,302 m), 18 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 88% of the circle.
The skies are clearest from September to October.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- Raptor Glen Campgroundcampsite · 4.7 km · 24 within 10 km
- Cobblestone Ridge Apartmentsplace to stay · 4.5 km · 77 within 10 km
- Stratmoornearest town · 7.2 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in StratmoorBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 14 km in a straight lineCar hire at COS airport (Colorado Springs)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
- 11other viewpoints within 5 km
- 10named peaks within 5 kmMount Cutler, Mays Peak, Mount Buckhorn and 7 more
- 2cable car and funicular stations within 5 kmMountaineer Sky Ride
- 3marked trails within 3 kmMount Cutler Trail, Mount Muscoco Trail, Columbine Trail
- 34shelters and huts within 5 km
- 67car parks within 3 km
- 2visitor centres within 5 kmStarsmore Visitor and Nature Center, Cheyenne Mountain State Park Visitor Center
- 11restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 24campsites within 10 kmRaptor Glen Campground, Swift Puma Campground, Swift Puma Walk-In Campground and 21 more
- 77places to stay within 10 kmCobblestone Ridge Apartments, Element Colorado Springs Downtown, SpringHill Suites Colorado Springs Downtown and 74 more
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 Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas50 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 km
Canyonyas1 canyons within 20 km
Cascadyas4 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.
Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun
United States
- 65Viewyas Score
- 156 kmFarthest ridge
- 3Peaks in view
- 2,295 mAltitude
Mount Elbert
United States · 142 km
- 80Viewyas Score
- 209 kmFarthest ridge
- 117Peaks in view
- 4,374 mAltitude
Register Cliff
United States · 387 km
- 55Viewyas Score
- 63 kmFarthest ridge
- 1Peaks in view
- 1,334 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q2576535) · 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, Lakeyas, Canyonyas, Cavernyas, 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