Which stone at Stonehenge is aligned with the summer solstice sunrise?

The Heel Stone is aligned with the direction of the summer solstice sunrise at Stonehenge.

The stone stands northeast of the main sarsen circle, beside the end of Stonehenge Avenue. An observer inside the monument looking through its northeastern entrance would see the Sun rise approximately over the Heel Stone at midsummer. The alignment is one of Stonehenge’s most famous astronomical features.

The wording “aligned” is best understood as approximate rather than perfectly exact. The sunrise position has changed slightly since Stonehenge was built because Earth’s axial tilt has varied, and researchers have also proposed that a now-missing companion stone helped frame the sunrise. The Heel Stone itself is a large, rough-textured monolith that leans inward toward the circle.

A common mix-up is to credit the entire stone circle or Stonehenge Avenue as the named marker. Those features contribute to the alignment, but the identifiable stone associated with the summer-solstice sunrise is the Heel Stone.