[rplnt]

> then—in something I’ve never seen before, anywhere on Google Maps—a dashed gray line arcs from Griffith Observatory, over Mt. Lee

Uhm, Google Maps do this all the time if there is no route to the place you selected. I'd say I see it every time I use the routing feature by hand or by entering GPS coordinates, i.e. not when I write an address down.

[megablast]

Another example would be great!

[yaur]

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Liberty,+NY/Rocky+Mountain,+...

Of course unlike the Hollywood sign, this is a place you wont be able to get to without a good map and some back-country navigation skills.

[Eiriksmal]

It did the same dashed gray path when you asked it to route across oceans. The flights feature has removed that "feature," along with their quips about paddling across the Pacific in a canoe, if I recall their joking text correctly.