Normal VFR Arrival & Departure Routes KSNA local VFR procedures

Where it actually is

North up. The sponsor names these landmarks and publishes no coordinate for any of them — everything positioned here is derived, and each coordinate's provenance is listed with its point below. Dashed markers are depicted: this site's reading of the written route, not published fixes.

1. From the east: from El Toro... El Toro (Orange County Great Park) The former MCAS El Toro, now the Great Park — its two huge crossed runways are still on the ground and still the clearest landmark east of the field, 7.2 NM out on about 094 true. The El Toro departure heading of 080 points at it. The El Toro departure heading of 080 points back at it; it bears 094 true from the field. N33°40.04' W117°43.45' 33.66733, -117.72425 reference, not a leg 337 ft ELTORO satellite Apple Maps street view coordinate: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
2. ...proceed to Signal Peak for left traffic 20L Signal Peak The 1,184 ft summit above Newport Coast, 5.1 NM southeast of the field and the highest thing on that side — arrivals from the east and southeast route over it for left traffic to 20L. N33°36.30' W117°48.67' 33.60497, -117.81124 reference, not a leg 1184 ft SIGPEK satellite Apple Maps street view coordinate: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) (natural=peak, ele 361 m); elevation: USGS 3DEP point query
3. From the southeast: Signal Peak, or over / just east of UCI for a midfield entry University of California, Irvine The UCI campus 2.4 NM southeast of the field — a distinctive ring of buildings around a circular central park. Arrivals report over it, or pass just east of it for a midfield pattern entry. N33°38.58' W117°50.41' 33.64295, -117.84016 reference, not a leg 131 ft UCI satellite Apple Maps street view coordinate: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
4. From the west and northwest: Mile Square Park... Mile Square Park A literal square mile of park and golf course in Fountain Valley, 4.9 NM northwest of the field. Unmistakable: nothing else in that grid is a mile of green. N33°43.48' W117°56.75' 33.72464, -117.94585 reference, not a leg 46 ft MILESQ satellite Apple Maps street view coordinate: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
5. ...or from the southwest, Huntington Pier... Huntington Beach Pier The pier on the open coast 6.9 NM west-southwest of the field, the arrival gate from the southwest. N33°39.28' W118°00.28' 33.65460, -118.00466 reference, not a leg 4 ft HUNPIR satellite Apple Maps street view coordinate: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
6. ...then cross over the tower at or above 1,300 for a left downwind to 20L John Wayne Airport Two close parallels running northeast-southwest through the middle of Orange County, with the Newport Back Bay off the south end and Highway 73 crossing a mile beyond that. Arrivals from the west and southwest cross overhead the tower at or above 1,300 for a left downwind to 20L; this pin is the airport reference point, which stands in for the tower. Departures by direction: El Toro 080, Newport 150, Mesa 220, Orange 340. N33°40.54' W117°52.09' 33.67566, -117.86823 reference, not a leg 56 ft SNAFLD satellite Apple Maps coordinate: FAA airport record (NASR), airport reference point (the control tower itself is not separately mapped; the ARP is within a few hundred feet)

This entry describes several named routes, so the landmarks are plotted and no single track is drawn. Bearings are magnetic, converted from true at each leg's midpoint through the WMM 2025 model this site ships (11.2°E here). Shoreline, water, highways and runways © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Class B/C/D boundaries: FAA Aeronautical Information Services.