Views from Another Top - How Far Can You See from Atop Boston Skyscrapers?

[Driver8]

Visiting downtown Boston this weekend - after Pat and Audrey's great potluck dinner party - a question came to mind. What is the furthest high peak one could see on a crystal clear day from atop Boston's highest buildings? I'd think you could surely make out Monadnock, since it has good views, on clear days, of downtown Boston. What about the Whites? In the winter, especially, where Washington and its neighbors are capped in White, can you make them out, with binoculars or otherwise, from atop the John Hancock building or its neighbors?

Anyone ever try this or hear about it?

 

[DougPaul]

I know that one can see the high buildings of Boston from Wachusett, so the reverse should work. Don't know about Monadnock or the Whites.

Doug

 

[peakbagger]

Not sure about Boston but the view of Mt Washington from Maine Medical Center or the Western Prom on clear winter day is quite impressive

 

[Tom_Murphy]

I have seen a glimmer of the ocean from Washington and from Chorcoua. I have seen Boston skyscrapers pretty clearly from Wachusett and from Monadnock.

 

[iagreewithjamie]

Would it work in reverse? Wherever you can see the Pru, the Pru can see you?

I've never seen Washington from the Pru, but I HAVE seen it from MA.
On a flight, I had a leg from Columbus Ohio to Boston. From the air above MA, you could see the snow-covered White Mountains way on the horizon. Given that we were just 30 minutes from touchdown, I'm guessing we were about 15k up.

I'm thinking that in ideal conditions, your visibility would be limited to about 60 miles... so you'd be right at the cusp in Boston.

 

[Lefty E]

Been lucky enough to be able to ID Mt. Washington and the Boston skyline, on the same hike, from South Pack Monadnock and on another hike on Monadnock...and I think Blue Job Mt. too...there seemed to be a haze surrounding Boston so maybe one can not see out as far as one can see in....

 

[nartreb]

The boston skyline has some very distinct rectangular shapes. You either see it or you don't, there's no chance of "I think I see Boston but it might just be Fitchburg."

The other direction is much harder. If you learn the landmarks (mostly water towers), you can identify Arlington Heights, Great Blue Hill, the Middlesex Fells, Prospect Hill (Waltham)... and that's about it. Further out you get a series of wavy blue ridgelines, with no contrast between them so they're very hard to count, and few or no distinctive shapes. In perfect conditions, Monadnock is possible to identify - it's the isolated bump to the left of the double peak of Pack Monadnock and North Pack. But the only Mount Washington you'll see is the one in Everett (and it will not be easy to identify).

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I have certainly seen Boston and Washington/Franconia Ridge and Moosilauke all on the same hike - from North Pack Monadnock...

Moosilauke through Washington

Boston

You can also see the Uncanoonucs in Goffstown from Lafayette and from Garfield, some 85-90 miles away.

Tim

 

[Driver8]

Sounds like there's a bunch of us who've seen downtown Boston and the Whites from Monadnock or nearby on a clear day. Still wondering if anyone's done the view-from-a-tall-Boston building thing. Can you see Belknap and Cardigan on the right day? Sunapee and Kearsarge?

 

[DougPaul]

Didn't have time to post it earlier--Boston from Wachusett:

Doug

 

[TJsName]

By my math the visual horizon from Mt. Washington to the Hancock tower is about 131 miles, whereas the actual distance between the two is about 133miles, so it would not be possible to see one from the other, unless we built a bigger building in Boston - we only need another 150' or so for 'theoretical views'. Unfortunately the ground in between isn't perfectly smooth - parts of Pawtuckaway, and the Ossipiees are in the way, as is the Northern flank of Mt. Chocorua.

 

[madmattd]

I have certainly seen Boston and Washington/Franconia Ridge and Moosilauke all on the same hike - from North Pack Monadnock...

Same for me from Monadnock itself this past winter (day after Nemo in fact). Washington and Franconia Ridge were a piece of cake to see and ID, whereas Boston was fainter (I assume due to the city haze since it is a lot closer). I could also just barely make out by eye what I convinced myself at the time was the Blue Hills South of Boston, though whether that was what I was actually seeing I'm not sure.

If it's a nice clear day, you won't find me in downtown Boston on a tower

 

[Raymond]

I think I may have mentioned this before, but when I was a kid, I read that years earlier bright, flashing lights were set up on the Pru and Mount Washington, but neither site could see the other’s light.

When I was on Mount Monadnock in April 2011, there was a guy on top pointing out Mount Washington and Lafayette and other White Mountain locations. It was startlingly clear that day. I think I saw six ski areas I’d never noticed before. Unfortunately for me, that was the one time I forgot to bring along my camera.

Back in the early 1980s, I saw Monadnock for about a week from a hill across the street from where I worked in Acton, Mass. Day after day I thought it was a white cloud on the horizon, then I figured out what it must be. The one place with snow on it. The trees there are way too grown up now, though. There was a dug-out section of the hillside, where the fill had been taken from so that the store where I worked could be built, which is what made the long view possible. Now, it’s hard to even see that there was a dug out section.

 

[Driver8]

I think I may have mentioned this before, but when I was a kid, I read that years earlier bright, flashing lights were set up on the Pru and Mount Washington, but neither site could see the other’s light.

That would confirm TJ's math, it seems. Would the top of the John Hancock be able to see, perchance, any of the southern Whites? Whiteface, Tripyramid, Tecumseh, Moosilauke? Due to its height, it would seem Moosilauke would seem to be the best candidate of the more southern specimens.

 

[RichS]

heywhatsthat.com is a neat tool for exploring these questions.
You can create your own 360-degree profile from any location and elevation, or in this case, find one already created for the Prudential tower. Then you can zoom to another point, like Mt Washington, and view the linear profile in that direction.
This screenshot, if I've done it correctly, shows that you can't see Mt Washington from the Pru.

 

[Driver8]

heywhatsthat.com is a neat tool for exploring these questions.
You can create your own 360-degree profile from any location and elevation, or in this case, find one already created for the Prudential tower. Then you can zoom to another point, like Mt Washington, and view the linear profile in that direction.
This screenshot, if I've done it correctly, shows that you can't see Mt Washington from the Pru.
View attachment 4780

Cool stuff, Rich. Thanks!