The view is looking west across the foothills of the Diablo range. In the foreground, stretches of Mt. Hamilton Road (California Highway 130) can be seen winding up the mountainside. The nineteen mile road, completed in 1876, is said to have 365 curves. It was built by Santa Clara County expressly for the observatory, which opened its doors twelve years later in 1888.

Beyond the foothills lie San Jose and the surrounding communities of the South Bay. The south end of San Francisco Bay is dimly visible below the horizon at right.