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I know you can see Toronto from Niagara-on-the-lake but if that's possible then you should be able to see Niagara-on-the-lake from the CN tower, right? I just wanted to know because I plan on going up there next month.

Ringbell.co.uk says that at an observation level of 1150 feet, the horizon is 42 miles away.

The distance between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-lake is 32 miles. So I should see the US side of the lake as a thin line on the horizon. But I can't find any photos of this and nobody seems to have done this so that's why I come here.

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  • I am not really sure but I kind of remember being behind glass in that tower. Taking photos of something at the far range of vision through glass is not often successful.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 17:09
  • The question is more what you expect to see. Judging from Street View photos it doesn't look like the coastline is particularly dramatic even close up, so the only thing you'd be able to see or photograph would be a thin zone of indistinct grey-green smatter between the lake and the sky ...
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 17:56
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    Even if you could see the other side, it's not like there's a major city there. I wouldn't expect to see much of anything interesting.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 18:23
  • It will depend a lot on the weather. A clear sunny day in January at -20° will give an excellent view and great photographs. A hazy humid day in July at 35° can be very disappointing.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Jul 6, 2019 at 1:35
  • heywhatsthat.com
    – Alchimista
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 12:08

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According to the view calculated by HeyWhatsThat.com (an excellent resource for these sorts of questions), the far side of Lake Ontario should indeed be visible on a clear day. Note that the Niagara Escarpment, a substantial terrain feature (for that part of the world), runs roughly parallel to the shore of Lake Ontario on its southern shore; what land you can see on the far side (if any) will probably be part of this escarpment.

The panorama on the Wikipedia page may in fact show some of the terrain on the far side; a straight line extended from the CN Tower past Centre Island should intersect the US side, and there does appear to be a narrow dark shape on the horizon there. However, given that the panorama appears to be assembled from multiple exposures, it is not entirely clear that the "terrain" visible is not just distortion or haze.

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  • It just looks like haze to me.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 20:05
  • I will be going up to the top of the CN Tower with a high power lens and expensive camera so I can confirm this.
    – Will Harperette
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 20:22

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