Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

The University of Large Type

Posted by James Turnbull, Wednesday, 25th May 2005

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars

Studying at University can be quite a stressful experience so why not take your mind of things by indulging in a popular student pastime? No, not drinking and casual sex – creating gigantic letters on the side of a hill! Is there a better way to avoid lectures?

Our first example is a giant “Y” in the mountains to the west of Brigham Young University, Utah. You can see how it’s looking right now thanks to the 24/7 webcams.

 Brigham Young University

There’s a giant “KS” (of an unfinished “KSU” – slackers) outside Kansas State University.

Kansas State University

And in Montana everyone has a go with a “M” for Montana State University, another “M” for the University of Montana and just a little north a slightly smaller “L” for Loyola High School (even schoolkids are getting in on the act!).

Montana State University University of Montana Loyola High School

Thanks: Keith, Elton M, Patia & Todd Spatafore

16 Responses to 'The University of Large Type'

  1. John says:

    Down the road from the KS in Manhattan, Placemark: KS is MANHATTAN / Google Earth spelled out on another hillside. It’s like Hollywood in Kansas!

  2. Luke says:

    Haha, that is awesome. I like how when you look at the ‘Y’ from the webcam and then Google Maps, it really is impossible to tell if that was even on a mountain with Google maps.

  3. kaley says:

    Don’t forget Placemark: Montana Tech / Google Earth! It’s just outside of Butte. Not quite as photogenic as the others, though.

  4. Travis says:

    Don’t forget the Placemark: Colorado School of Mines / Google Earth in Golden Colorado. To the East is Coors brewery, pretty hard to miss.

  5. Josh says:

    I can see the Y from my front door. :) Another one just a few miles away. Placemark: The G / Google Earth :)

  6. Patia says:

    If you look at Placemark: the big picture / Google Earth, you can see horizontal lines ringing Mount Sentinel. They’re ancient shorelines from Glacial Lake Missoula, which filled western Montana about 12,000 years ago.

    If you want to see it from another angle, check out http://www.umt.edu/grizcam.

  7. Twombly says:

    The University of Maryland has a large Placemark: M in a traffic circle / Google Earth.

    And one in Placemark: Byrd Stadium / Google Earth.

    Go Terps!

  8. izzy says:

    Placemark: Battle Mountain / Google Earth has to be one of my favorite place for letters on the hill. I couldn’t help but chuckle the first time I saw it in person:

  9. Keith T. says:

    Lots of small towns especially farm towns have the initial of their town name on a nearby hillside, usually visible from the road on the way into town (for example Kelso, WA has a big K, which doesn’t seem visible from Gmaps unfortunatley). There’s been some web-zen dedicated to this, but a good link doesn’t come to mind…

  10. David says:

    That “Y” for BYU is impressive, but what really impresses me it the road going up to it. Those 8, or so, switchbacks must make for an exciting drive.

  11. sam says:

    Just outside of manhattan, my hometown of Placemark: Junction City / Google Earth has a big J on a hill

  12. Ben says:

    The Big “M” in Butte, MT is the only Montana “M” that lights up at night.

  13. Mike says:

    The KSU in Manhattan couldn’t be complete due to a rather large cave inline where the U would be place. If you had to blame someone, blame the city survey team!

  14. Larry says:

    There is a giant letter for the University of Arizona. I’m not sure of the coords, but the address is:

    Sentinel Peak Park, 498 S Sentinel Peak Rd, Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States

    If you scroll to the right in Google Maps you will see a giant red, blue and white “A”.

  15. Glenn says:

    The M for Montana Tech in butte lights up at night and on game nights if Tech wins the 2 down arms turn off and a v flashes in the middle