Pictured above: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
By: Lynn Houghton
Americans are increasing looking up at the stars, not just because of their ongoing fascination with – and the reality of – space travel but also because it provides a sense of tranquillity and oneness with the natural world that is particularly valued in these stressful times.
More and more visitors from abroad are now beginning to join them, partly because of the increasing awareness of the numerous public ‘dark sky’ places that encourage people to stargaze far from the country’s light- polluted urban areas, and partly because they are among the 70-or-so places worldwide listed and lauded by DarkSky International (darksky.org).
Not surprisingly, many of those in the USA are found in the great National Parks, where the celestial splendour of the heavens is matched by the scenic wonders of the earth below.
Not only does Utah (visitutah.com) claim more designated International DarkSky places than any other place in America, but its Natural Bridges National Monument, tucked away in its remote south-east corner, was named the world’s first International DarkSky Park in 2007. Park Rangers give interpretive discussions on astronomy and have also changed the park’s light fixtures to reduce light pollution.
To the north, Arches National Park, known for its fantastic array of eroded sandstone arches, pinnacles and spires and an International DarkSky Park since 2019, claims that the air above is so unpolluted that it is possible to see with the naked eye a myriad of stars and even the rings of Saturn. And the Split Mountain Campground even farther to the north in fossil-rich Dinosaur National Monument is known for its many DarkSky programmes.
On the Utah border, remote Mesa Verde National Park in south-western Colorado (colorado.com) – best known for its Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings – is unimpeded by light pollution, which allows visitors to witness with clarity constellations, planets and the Milky Way. During September, it stages an annual star party. To its north, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is both a DarkSky Park and a DarkSky Community in which the local Black Canyon Astronomical Society conducts stargazing programmes and an annual September astronomy festival. A great touring base for both parks is buzzy Durango, Colorado.
In Arizona (visitarizona.com), the iconic Grand Canyon National Park was proclaimed a DarkSky Park during its 2019 centennial year and now offers star parties, laser-guided constellation tours, ranger-led lectures and an astronomer-in- residence. You can overnight nearby in Under Canvas’s Stargazer tents, Clear Sky Resorts’ geodesic domes – and take a nightly stargazing tour – or at the Backland eco-resort, which offers tents with huge, glass skylights.
Flagstaff, to its south, is the nation’s first International DarkSky Community, a tribute to the fact that its Lowell Observatory was the place where Pluto was discovered in February, 1930, plus that it has been a pioneer in preventing light pollution. Visitors can explore the origins of the universe with interactive exhibits and witness the starry skies from an open-air rooftop planetarium at the observatory’s Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation Astronomy Discovery Center, opened in November, 2024.
When, even farther south, the International Dark Sky Discovery Center opens this year near Scottsdale, it will be the only facility in the world that focuses on how dark-sky preservation relates not only to astronomy but also to the wellbeing of humans, plants and animals.
And finally, Tucson’s Saguaro National Park is the second National Park Service site to be designated an Urban Night Sky Place, while the area’s Mt Lemon SkyCenter offers five-hour Sky Night experiences, you can overnight in the Kitt Peak National Observatory, and there’s also accommodation right next to Spencer’s Observatory.
Another DarkSky Community, Dripping Springs, is found deep in the heart of Texas (traveltexas.com), where, according to the popular song, “The stars at night are big and bright”. Located west of Austin, it hosts a Texas Night Sky Festival every March. In addition, Texas offers great night-sky experiences in Big Bend National Park tucked away in the far south-west corner of the state. Just north of this region, at the majestic McDonald Observatory, staff host daily tours, weekly star parties and viewing nights that feature some of the world’s largest telescopes.
Devils Tower National Monument in north-eastern Wyoming (travelwyoming.com), sacred to the area’s Native Americans, not only hosts night sky programmes, including ranger-led tours, but also was the place where the aliens landed in 1977’s award-winning film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Both North Dakota (ndtourism.com) and South Dakota (travelsouthdakota.com) host annual stargazing festivals. In addition to splendid skies over Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the former stages a Dakota Nights Astronomy Festival (September 19-21, 2025), which offers stargazing sessions, guest speakers, and workshops at the Peace Valley Ranch and, in the latter, the Badlands National Park offers guided tours of the Badlands Observatory and there are weekly summer Night Sky Viewing programmes and annual three-day astronomy festivals (July 18-20, 2025).
Beyond the Las Vegas strip, Nevada (travelnevada.com) is home to some of the darkest skies in the world, particularly around Great Basin National Park, which is located on its eastern border with Utah and renowned for stargazing, hiking and scenic drives with reasonably-priced accommodation at Baker’s Stargazer Inn & Bristlecone General Store. In Gila National Forest, in western New Mexico (newmexico.org), you can camp among the stars at the Cosmic Campground, North America’s first International Dark Sky Sanctuary and the first located on National Forest System lands.
And, as you might expect, majestic Yosemite National Park in eastern California (visitcalifornia.com) is full of exceptional stargazing experiences, including after-dark walking tours beneath beautiful clear skies, thanks to its remote location, high elevation and minimal light pollution. Glacier Point offers some of the most spectacular celestial views above iconic landmarks such as Half Dome and, from June until November, its amphitheatre offers naturalist-led cosmic explorations.
Elsewhere in the state, North Lake Tahoe offers beach tent camping and telescopes for stargazing directed by star guide Tony Berendsen, and Joshua Tree National Park, in the Mojave Desert east of Palm Springs, offers four designated stargazing areas as well as year-round ranger-led astronomy programmes.
In south-central Idaho (visitidaho.org), there are great stargazing sites in the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, so named for its resemblance to the lunar surface, and the City of Rocks National Reserve, known for its massive granite formations, sacred to the local Native Americans and popular with climbers, hikers, backpackers and horse riders as well as stargazers.
And, of course, not all the stargazing-rich National Parks are located in the west. To the south, Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky (kentuckytourism.com) not only has the longest known cave system in the world but also offers park ranger-led stargazing programmes throughout the year. The Shenandoah National Park, which crowns the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia (virginia.org), has staged a week-long Night Sky Festival, and in the Great Lakes region of Minnesota (exploreminnesota.com), the island-sited Voyageurs National Park, which features outdoor recreation year-round, is deemed one of the best spots in the state to see the ethereal Aurora Borealis. Options to consider are renting a houseboat or taking a boat trip to explore the park under a canopy of stars.
Certain river areas are also certified as Dark Sky parks. Among them are Buffalo National River in north-central Arkansas (arkansas.com), which passes through the Ozark Mountains’ picturesque bluffs and forests, and, in 2019, was named America’s first National River, and Middle Fork River Forest Preserve in Illinois (enjoyillinois.com).
And, of course, one shouldn’t forget the wealth of celestial offerings in the state parks. For instance, up in the Texas Panhandle, the Palo Duro Canyon State Park offers you a choice of two types of stars – those seasonally appearing in the Texas musical drama at the bottom of the canyon, and the celestial ones celebrated at star parties, moon viewings and full moon hikes.
Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania (visitpa.com) is considered one of the best places in the eastern US for stargazing. Its ‘Astronomy Field’ offers an unobstructed 360-degree view of the night sky and it hosts two major star parties each year, attracting several hundred astronomers over several nights. And Virginia’s Natural Bridge State Park, named after its dramatic signature limestone arc, offers magical, moonlit evenings in an area once owned by US President Thomas Jefferson.
The Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee (tnvacation.com) is known for astronomy weekends and star parties; the Isle Royale State Park, sited on a large island in Michigan’s (michigan.org), Lake Superior, claims to be the second-darkest designation on Earth for stargazing and is known for its astro-photography and star parties; depending on weather conditions, you reputedly can see Jupiter and Saturn from the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Florida (visitflorida.com), sited in the Everglades’ headwaters and home to a number of endangered bird species; and at the south-eastern tip of Georgia (exploregeorgia.org), the water wonderland of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is home to the Stephen C Foster State Park where, in summer months, visitors can observe the Milky Way and, occasionally, a meteor streaking across the sky.
STARGAZING TIPS
- Use flashlights with red lights to navigate walkways in the dark without disturbing night vision.
- Wide-open areas such as grassy fields are best as tall trees and hills block your view.
- Avoid areas with artificial light.
- Telescopes aren’t always necessary for night-skies viewing; also use binoculars.
- Always ask at visitors’ centres which special programmes are on offer and what accommodation, particular night-sky focused, is available nearby.
Image Credits: Visit Alamosa, Royce Bair, Discover Flagstaff, Abe Snyder/Lowell Observatory, Ray Cleveland,
@wyomingnaturalist, Casey Horner, Travel South Dakota, Paul Vincent/Explore Minnesota, Zongnan Bao, Pure Michigan
