10 Darkest Places in the U.S. for Incredible Stargazing (2024)

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10 Darkest Places in the U.S. for Incredible Stargazing? ›

Possibly one of the best places to see dark skies in the whole USA, and maybe even the world, Death Valley National in southeastern California is so pristine that in many places, it offers nighttime views close to what could have been seen before the rise of mega-cities.

Possibly one of the best places to see dark skies in the whole USA, and maybe even the world, Death Valley National in southeastern California is so pristine that in many places, it offers nighttime views close to what could have been seen before the rise of mega-cities.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

In fact, it has the least light pollution of any national park in the lower 48 states, and in addition to ranger-guided stargazing programs and moonlight hikes, visitors need only look up at night to witness the starry show.

Death Valley National Park, California

A sky full of stars above the sandy landscape of Mesquite Flats at Death Valley National Park in California.

Best Places to See Stars in the United States

Mauna Kea, HawaiiThe summit of Mauna Kea volcano, nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, affords breathtaking views of the clouds below and clear skies above.

Did you know the darkest town in America is right here in Nevada? Part of the Reno-Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area, the tiny town of Gerlach, Nevada is located approximately 100 miles north of Reno.

The Worst U.S. Cities for Stargazing

Unfortunately, not every city has a sparkling window to the stars, and chief among them is Charlotte, North Carolina. The city has a massive 384.2 W/cm2, which absolutely overwhelms the specks of light struggling to be noticed in the sky above.

Of the vast amount of certified International Dark Sky Parks and Communities that are part of a catalog of the finest dark skies in the world, the highest concentration are in Utah. Explore the statewide locations and make plans for experiencing natural wonders after the sun sets.

DarkSky has certified more than 200 Places since Flagstaff, Arizona, was named the first International Dark Sky City in 2001. There are now over 160,000 square kilometers of protected land and night skies in 22 countries on 6 continents, and the list grows every year as new places achieve certification.

Using 11 million photometers from 44 of the darkest places, the study concluded that Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, also located in the Canary Islands, is the darkest place on Earth.

Is there a place on Earth without light pollution? ›

Death Valley National Park is the largest Dark Sky designated area with a span of 13,700 square kilometers. The near-pristine night sky has minimal lighting impact from big cities despite being in the vicinity of Las Vegas (190 kilometers to the southeast) and Los Angeles (460 kilometers to the southwest).

Aoraki is the second-largest dark sky reserve in the world, ranking at a level 2 on the nine-level Bortle Dark-Sky Scale for light pollution.

The darkest city in the US is Yakutat in Alaska, where you can see the most stars and celestial objects.

The Darkest Part of the Universe--Boötes Void. In the northern night sky, you can sometimes find a foreleg-shaped cluster of stars known as the Boötes (Greek word for "herdsman") constellation. In its vicinity, there is an enormous dark space that is 330 million light-years across and shaped like a sphere.

If you were on the Moon, which has no atmosphere, the sky would be black both night and day. You can see this in photographs taken during the Apollo Moon landings.

Midnight. This describes when the sun is farthest below the horizon, and corresponds with when the sky is darkest. Whenever there is no sunrise or sunset, such as near the poles in summer and winter, this describes the time of day when the sky is least bright. Astronomical Twilight.