{"id":38160,"date":"2019-09-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=38160&preview=true&preview_id=38160"},"modified":"2025-01-10T04:40:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T17:40:03","slug":"dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark skies: 6 out-of-this-world stargazing spots in the Southwestern USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the United States<\/a> than the Southwest.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the National Park system and the arid desert climate of the region, major parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona are protected land and this has helped reduce urban development and light pollution \u2013 the ultimate enemy of stargazing!<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re exploring the Southwestern US as part of an epic road trip or on a small group tour. D<\/span>on\u2019t wear yourself out with all those adventures every day. Plan at least a few nights to get out and see the stars and you\u2019ll be shocked at how many you can see. To help, here are some of the best stargazing spots in the Southwestern US, with some of the darkest skies on the planet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EXPLORE OUR RANGE OF SMALL GROUP ADVENTURES IN NORTH AMERICA NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

1. Death Valley National Park, California<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"The

The night sky above Death Valley. Photo by Dixon Pictures.<\/p><\/div>\n

About two hours west of Las Vegas, Nevada (or four hours north of Los Angeles), Death Valley National Park is an epic place to see the night sky. Death Valley protects part of the sprawling Mojave Desert, which mostly covers parts of California and Nevada \u2013\u00a0and is pretty much untouched from urban sprawl and the light pollution that comes with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plan ahead if you want to visit Death Valley: you\u2019ll need a car, camping gear, and enough supplies and water to get you through blazing hot days in the desert and chilly nights. As Death Valley gets almost 300 days of clear skies per year, you can\u2019t go wrong planning a stargazing stop here.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Zion National Park, Utah<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"The

Zion National Park. Photo by Kyle Rarick Photography<\/p><\/div>\n

Zion National Park is one of Utah\u2019s many awe-inspiring national parks; it\u2019s not hard to see why it should be protected! It\u2019s also an ideal place to see the night sky since the massive rock formations and canyons have created a pocket of darkness where developers haven\u2019t built homes and hotels.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a day of hiking in Zion Canyon or Kolob Canyon, stay up and watch the stars slip past the rims of the canyon overhead \u2013 or head up onto the higher ground in the middle of Zion to get an unobstructed view of the night sky.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED: WHY THE CANADIAN ROCKIES ARE THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

3. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"A

Illuminated hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park. Photo by ericharris.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bryce Canyon National Park is an easy day\u2019s drive from neighboring Zion National Park \u2013 and another spot you can\u2019t afford to skip if you want to see the stars. With its famous towering hoodoos, Bryce Canyon is a particularly great spot to try your hand at astrophotography \u2013 the rock formations offer a great foreground contrast to the constellations in the sky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To master astrophotography, you\u2019ll need a camera with manual settings, a tripod and remote shutter release, and plenty of time to practice with different settings until you find the right one. Be prepared with layers since you may be standing around while you wait for long exposure shots \u2013 but think of them as the ultimate souvenir from your time in the Southwest!<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED: A GUIDE TO THE GATEWAYS \u2013 THE SMALL TOURS OF UTAH’S NATIONAL PARKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

4. Monument Valley, Arizona<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"Night

Stars shining bright above Monument Valley. Photo by liseykina.<\/p><\/div>\n

Located on Navajo tribal lands, it\u2019s only possible to visit Monument Valley as part of an escorted tour (like with Intrepid) and permission from the tribe. While you might be tempted to try and visit on your own, following the rules will help protect the tribe\u2019s heritage and natural wonders of their land.<\/span><\/p>\n

After spending the day learning about Navajo cultural traditions and life, enjoy a campfire with traditional stories and songs before you stay up to see the moon rise over Monument Valley\u2019s iconic buttes and mesas. Like Bryce Canyon, these can be a great foreground for your astrophotos.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"Dusk

Sunset at the Grand Canyon. Photo by FadiBarghouthy.<\/p><\/div>\n

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the world\u2019s most popular stargazing spots. Once you see it with your own eyes, you\u2019ll get why! As one of the world\u2019s largest canyons, Grand Canyon is a breathtaking sight during the day \u2013\u00a0now imagine it at night with the stars and moon lighting up its rocky rims.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best way to go stargazing at Grand Canyon is with a guide from the National Park Service. The Grand Canyon rangers offer astronomy programs almost every night of the year on both the North and South Rims, but this can change a bit depending on the weather and the phase of the moon. When you\u2019re at the park during the day, just check with a ranger to get all the details about when to attend and what you\u2019ll see in the sky that night.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED: 6 REASONS TO DO A GROUP TOUR IN THE USA, FROM A USA GROUP TOUR SKEPTIC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

6. Joshua Tree National Park, California<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"A

A meteor shower above Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by kesterhu.<\/p><\/div>\n

Relatively smaller than other spots on this list, Joshua Tree National Park is a great stargazing spot despite having more light pollution because it\u2019s only two hours from Los Angeles. It\u2019s a super easy drive inland from SoCal to reach this otherworldly landscape for a night or two of stargazing.<\/span><\/p>\n

After ogling the bizarre Joshua Trees, hiking among massive rock formations, and watching the sunset from Keys View, you can stop in any of the roadside pullouts to see the night sky. Just be careful to stay near your car; the National Park Service advises that it can be dangerous to hike out into the desert at night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ready to see the stars in each of these dark sky destinations? Book a spot on the <\/b>Grand National Parks<\/b><\/a> tour now.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Feature photo by\u00a0Arthur Cauty via Shutterstock.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the United States than the Southwest. Here are six of the best. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16202,"featured_media":38167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1313],"tags":[1767,874,423,69,330],"class_list":["post-38160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-lonely-planet","tag-national-parks","tag-north-america","tag-united-states","tag-usa","ipf_region-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDark Skies: 6 Of The USA\u2019s Best Stargazing Spots | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the USA than the Southwest. Here are some of the best stargazing spots in the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dark skies: 6 out-of-this-world stargazing spots in the Southwestern USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the United States than the Southwest.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Good Times by Intrepid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-24T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-09T17:40:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Stimac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Stimac\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/\",\"name\":\"Dark Skies: 6 Of The USA\u2019s Best Stargazing Spots | Intrepid Travel Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-24T22:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-09T17:40:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/e9eaacf2fc83233512882190a179376d\"},\"description\":\"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the USA than the Southwest. Here are some of the best stargazing spots in the country.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Milky Way behind a sandstone rock formation\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dark skies: 6 out-of-this-world stargazing spots in the Southwestern USA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\",\"name\":\"The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"description\":\"adventure news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/e9eaacf2fc83233512882190a179376d\",\"name\":\"Valerie Stimac\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a88f8b4d5a8019e6afca01343ef0fe57a369019bb1980d759054ddffa4b68551?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a88f8b4d5a8019e6afca01343ef0fe57a369019bb1980d759054ddffa4b68551?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Valerie Stimac\"},\"description\":\"Valerie Stimac is a San Francisco Bay Area-based travel writer and astronomy enthusiast. She founded the online Space Tourism Guide and authored Lonely Planet's Dark Skies: A Practical Guide to Astrotourism.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/valerie-stimac\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dark Skies: 6 Of The USA\u2019s Best Stargazing Spots | Intrepid Travel Blog","description":"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the USA than the Southwest. Here are some of the best stargazing spots in the country.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dark skies: 6 out-of-this-world stargazing spots in the Southwestern USA","og_description":"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the United States than the Southwest.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/","og_site_name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/","article_published_time":"2019-09-24T22:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-09T17:40:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Valerie Stimac","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_site":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valerie Stimac","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/","name":"Dark Skies: 6 Of The USA\u2019s Best Stargazing Spots | Intrepid Travel Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-24T22:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-09T17:40:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/e9eaacf2fc83233512882190a179376d"},"description":"If you want to see the night sky, there are few better places in the USA than the Southwest. Here are some of the best stargazing spots in the country.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"Milky Way behind a sandstone rock formation"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/dark-skies-stargazing-southwest-usa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dark skies: 6 out-of-this-world stargazing spots in the Southwestern USA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/","name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"adventure news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/e9eaacf2fc83233512882190a179376d","name":"Valerie Stimac","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a88f8b4d5a8019e6afca01343ef0fe57a369019bb1980d759054ddffa4b68551?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a88f8b4d5a8019e6afca01343ef0fe57a369019bb1980d759054ddffa4b68551?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Valerie Stimac"},"description":"Valerie Stimac is a San Francisco Bay Area-based travel writer and astronomy enthusiast. She founded the online Space Tourism Guide and authored Lonely Planet's Dark Skies: A Practical Guide to Astrotourism.","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/valerie-stimac\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1217588020-e1569198622451.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OQMK-9Vu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38160"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80547,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160\/revisions\/80547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}