Summer is the perfect season where everyone is waiting to spend their vacation. If you are planning for stargazing, the best place you can go is to a national park. The night sky constantly keeps changing depending on the time of night and year. You can also look for constellations, meteor showers, planets, and the Milky Way in the summer skies. Stargazing is for everyone. Look out which places are more popular for stargazing during summer below:
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is one of the best American National Parks located in Utah. Bryce Canyon has amazing stargazing locations anywhere in the world. The people can almost see thousands of stars on a moonless night. The milky way starches from one horizon to another. You can also see Venus and Jupiter which look shining bright along with the stars. This park is one of the most popular places for stargazing when you compare it with other National Parks. The staff in the park offers many night-sky activities for a week in a year that include presentations by guest astronomers and they provide more than 50 telescopes for the visitors to use. The best day to visit this park is on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during summer. The best spots for stargazing in Bryce Canyon National Park are Natural Bridge Overlook, Inspiration Point, Sunset Point, or Sunrise Points, Farview Point, and Mossy Cave Trail.
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is located in Southern California, United States. This park is the best one for stargazing though there is less light pollution from the getaway towns and from many other iconic desert plants that dominate the Mojave Desert landscape. The staff in this park offers night-sky programs regularly and they also offer night sky festivals along with star parties with more than 20 telescopes, astronomy lectures, solar viewing, constellation tours. The visitors can see galaxies, meteor showers, and many other things with the naked eye and also see the Milky Way, star clusters, clouds with binoculars. You can sleep in the tent under the stars at Joshua Tree Park’s nine campgrounds. The best time to visit this park for stargazing is during summer.
Great Basin National Park
Great Basin National Park is one of the best places for astronomy located in Nevada. You can see thousands of stars, planets, the Milky Way, meteors, the Andromeda Galaxy, and many more on the moonlight night. It also offers 360-degree views of stars and the wonderful night sky. The Great Basin with its high elevation, minimal light pollution, and low humidity offers visitors perfect viewing conditions. Take the Star Train on the Nevada Northern Railway for a guided tour during summer. The Milky Way rises from the Great Basin park’s highest point which is called Wheeler Peak. This point is also an ideal location for viewing meteorite showers shooting past the planet. If you visit the park on Friday and Saturday evenings during summer, you can have a ride with the park rangers to find the dark sky views and many more.
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park lies in the southwest corner of Texas and borders Mexico. It is made up of Chisos Mountains and it is the part of Chihuahuan Desert. It is one of the largest and most remote parks with spectacular night skies. The Big Bend National Park has the least amount of light pollution when compared with all national parks in the lower 48 states and it is the best place for stargazing. Rangers provide night-sky programs like moonlight walks during the full moon day, star parties when darker skies dominate, and many more. There are two best spots for starscapes, Santa Elena Canyon Overlook and Mules Ears Viewpoint which are easily accessible from the park’s Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs National Park which is located in Minnesota is the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the stars. This park is mainly known for lakes and forestry. Voyageurs Park is one of the darkest locations in the Midwest. To preserve the dark skies, the park follows a thorough Lighting Management Plan. And this was recognized by the International Dark Sky Park in December 2020. The most popular spots in this park are the Beaver Pond Overlook, the Voyageurs Forest Overlook, and the Kettle Falls Dam. The excellent view of the Milky Way and other stellar objects can be seen from the park’s endless lakeshores, forest clearings, and campsites.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park is a spectacular national park located in Arizona, United States. This park offers a night-sky view and you can watch it easily. You can find the accessible overlooks from the Rim Trail and Scenic Desert View Drive. The park is famous for astronomy and the week-long star party includes constellation talks, stargazing, night-sky photography workshops, and ranger-led tours. There are few spots that are popular in the South Rim side like Lipan point and Yavapai point for stargazing. For fewer crowds, you can head to the North Rim side where you can see the best star viewing along with the paved trail at Bright Angel Point.
Glacier National Park, Montana
Glacier National Park lies in northern Montana, on the Canadian border. Glacier National Park is America’s greatest national park for waterfalls, scenic drives, and wildflowers. If you look at the stargazing, this park is one of the best during summer. This park is part of the cross-border twin park which is known as the Waterton- Glacier International Peace Park. And Waterton Park is the world’s first International Dark Sky Park that ranges two countries and to preserve their dark night skies.