diff --git a/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs b/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
index abe7476..b7307ac 100644
--- a/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
+++ b/VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs
@@ -447,6 +447,29 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         Assert.Null(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 5, 0)));    // air above surface — not loaded
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecomputeTargetSet_CachesSurfaceHeights_OnlySamplesNewColumns()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration
+        {
+            RenderDistanceHorizontal = 1,
+            RenderDistanceVertical = 0,
+            SpawnReadyRadiusHorizontal = 1,
+            MaxGenerateJobsInFlight = 100,
+            MaxMeshUploadsPerFrame = 100,
+        };
+        int calls = 0;
+        var (streamer, _, _) = CreateStreamer(cfg, surfaceHeightAt: (_, _) => { calls++; return 8; });
+
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0));
+        int afterFirst = calls;                 // 9 columns × 5 samples = 45 (spawn-check reuses cache)
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(1, 0, 0));   // overlaps 6 columns; only the cx=2 strip is new
+        int newCalls = calls - afterFirst;
+
+        Assert.Equal(45, afterFirst);
+        Assert.Equal(15, newCalls);             // 3 new columns × 5 — cached columns are not re-sampled
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void DrawVisible_DrawsOnlyChunksPassingPredicate_AndReturnsCount()
     {
diff --git a/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs b/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
index f44620b..a8a9b09 100644
--- a/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
+++ b/World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
     private readonly IWorld _world;
     private readonly Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> _generate;
     private readonly Func<int, int, int> _surfaceHeightAt;
+    // Per chunk-column (cx,cz) surface (min,max) height range, memoized so each
+    // column's samples are taken once and reused across ticks. Pruned to the
+    // horizontal window each recompute so it stays bounded.
+    private readonly Dictionary<(int cx, int cz), (int min, int max)> _surfaceRangeCache = new();
     private readonly IChunkMesher _mesher;
     private readonly BlockRegistry _registry;
     private readonly IJobExecutor _executor;
@@ -148,6 +152,23 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
             this._tracked.Remove(pos);
             this._pendingUnload.Enqueue(pos);
         }
+
+        this.PruneSurfaceCache(p);
+    }
+
+    // Drop cached surface ranges for columns outside the current horizontal
+    // window so the cache stays bounded as the player explores.
+    private void PruneSurfaceCache(Vector3i p)
+    {
+        int keep = this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal + 1;
+        List<(int cx, int cz)>? stale = null;
+        foreach (var key in this._surfaceRangeCache.Keys)
+        {
+            if (Math.Abs(key.cx - p.X) > keep || Math.Abs(key.cz - p.Z) > keep)
+                (stale ??= new()).Add(key);
+        }
+        if (stale != null)
+            foreach (var key in stale) this._surfaceRangeCache.Remove(key);
     }
 
     // Fills `into` with the chunk positions to load for a viewer at chunk
@@ -186,6 +207,9 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
     // sampled at the four corners and the centre (catches slope spread cheaply).
     private (int min, int max) SurfaceHeightRange(int cx, int cz)
     {
+        if (this._surfaceRangeCache.TryGetValue((cx, cz), out (int min, int max) cached))
+            return cached;
+
         int x0 = cx * VoxelChunk.Size;
         int z0 = cz * VoxelChunk.Size;
         int x1 = x0 + VoxelChunk.Size - 1;
@@ -201,7 +225,10 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
 
         int min = Math.Min(Math.Min(h0, h1), Math.Min(Math.Min(h2, h3), h4));
         int max = Math.Max(Math.Max(h0, h1), Math.Max(Math.Max(h2, h3), h4));
-        return (min, max);
+
+        (int min, int max) range = (min, max);
+        this._surfaceRangeCache[(cx, cz)] = range;
+        return range;
     }
 
     private void DrainCompleted()