Where to See the Solar Eclipse

PHOTO: The solar eclipse is a must-see this summer. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)The solar eclipse is coming on Aug. 21 and it will plunge North America into darkness for more than an hour and a half. Where will you be when that happens? The Los Angeles Times has some suggestions for those who haven’t finalized their plans. “This total eclipse of the sun is the first since 1776 whose path of totality — the narrow corridor where observers will be in the moon’s shadow as it covers the sun — lies completely within the continental United States and no other country,” writes Valli Herman, noting that millions live within a day’s drive of the umbra or “shadow path.”Oregon’s Depoe Bay is a prime viewing spot on the West Coast. “The moon’s shadow, touching down at 10:15 a.m. just north of Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast, will race east across cities in the Willamette Valley (Salem, Corvallis, Albany), central Oregon (Madras, Prineville, Redmond) and ending its path in eastern Oregon (John Day, Baker City, Ontario),” notes Herman. READ MORE: Where Should Travelers Really View the Northern Lights This Winter? In Idaho, Idaho Falls is another good spot to go. “About 11:25 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time, the path of totality enters Idaho, passes north of Boise and through Idaho Falls and Rexburg. The Idaho Falls area has the largest population within the path and will experience about 1 minute, 45 seconds of totality,” says Herman. For more places to see the East Coast and for a handy map of the shadow path, read on here.