---
title: "Los Angeles to Denver (LAX → DEN): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Los Angeles to Denver is 1,385 km (861 mi) great circle, an estimated 2h 13m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-den
---

LAX → DEN

# Los Angeles to Denver: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Los Angeles to Denver is 1,385 km of great circle — 861 mi — and an estimated 2h 13m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

**Great circle**
1,385 km
861 mi

**Estimated in the air**
2h 13m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
39.9°N
at 100% along

**One lap of Earth**
3.5%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 226th longest.

The Los Angeles to Denver route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Los Angeles the path crosses the United States.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 39.9°N, 100% of the way along.

Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.

Leaving Los Angeles the aircraft points north-east (58°); it arrives into Denver heading north-east (66°). That is 8° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

One economy seat on it is about 205 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[LAX–DEN carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=LAX&to=DEN) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=LAX-DEN)

From

LAX

## Los Angeles

Los Angeles, United States · North America

33.9°N, 118.4°W

[LAX airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lax) [Flights to Los Angeles →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/los-angeles)

To

DEN

## Denver

Denver, United States · North America

39.9°N, 104.7°W

[DEN airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/den)

## Los Angeles to Denver, asked and answered

**How far is Los Angeles to Denver?**
Los Angeles to Denver (LAX to DEN) is 1,385 km, or 861 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Denver?**
About 2h 13m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a Los Angeles to Denver flight take?**
The great circle passes over the United States. It reaches 39.9°N at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[ORD → DEN Chicago to Denver 1,426 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ord-to-den) [LAX → SEA Los Angeles to Seattle 1,537 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-sea) [LAX → SFO Los Angeles to San Francisco 543 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-sfo) [LAX → MEX Los Angeles to Mexico City 2,500 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-mex) [JFK → DEN New York to Denver 2,610 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-den) [LAX → ORD Los Angeles to Chicago 2,802 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-ord)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-den for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt