Dark Sky Park Pennsylvania
Night sky enthusiasts flock to the park for its dark skies which are famous for great views of the milky way planets and hard to see astronomical objects and phenomena.
Dark sky park pennsylvania. Among the massive 262000 acre susquehannock state forest the tiny unassuming cherry springs state park is surprisingly the darkest place in the eastern united states. The cherry springs dark sky fundassociation is a friends group under the pennsylvania parks and forests foundation. On a clear night up to 30000 stars fill the sky and lucky guests may also glimpse asteroids venus the evening star aurora borealis the northern lights omega nebula zodiacal light meteor showers lunar viewing and the milky way and other celestial bodies. Just outside of coudersport pennsylvania youll find star spangled cherry.
And around the world parks are achieving certification from the international dark sky association ida an organization that calls attention to light pollution. Visitors travel far and wide to the parks astronomy field which offers magnificent unobstructed 360 degree views of tens of thousands of stars and their constellations. The state park system designated cherry springs as a dark sky park one of a small but growing number of parks around the country dedicated to preserving the night sky and offering stargazers a. One of the top dark sky destinations in the world and the gold level dark sky park designation from the international dark sky association to prove it cherry springs presents skies for studying gazing or gaining a better understanding of our place in the universe.
The park is open every day of the year. Their mission is the protection of the dark night sky at cherry springs state park and enhancing the astronomy experience through facility improvement and educational outreach programs. Pago offers expert elk viewing tips road trips special events and more. To gain certification a park must not only meet.
For the best viewing you need to find an area well away from city or street lights. One solution is a dark sky park. The pennsylvania great outdoors pago provides traveler resources and itineraries for a 6 county region that covers the south western portion of the dark skies landscape that includes sinnemahoning state park and wildlife center. Springs state park consistently rated one of the 7 best places on the planet for stargazing.
The cherry springs rustic campground is open the second friday of april through the last weekend in october.