A crowd of people sit and watch the sunset at delicate arch.
National Parks 10 parks Updated 2026

Best National Parks for Stargazing

Photo: NPS/Veronica Verdin
10
Parks
6
States
Grand Canyon
#1 Most Visited

Quick answer: Great Basin, Big Bend, Death Valley, Capitol Reef, and Bryce Canyon are the top stargazing national parks in the US. All are certified International Dark Sky Parks with Bortle Class 1–2 skies. Zion hosts more night sky events (59 per year) than any other national park.

Light pollution wipes out the Milky Way for more than 80% of Americans. These national parks are among the last places in the lower 48 where you can see a truly dark sky. All parks listed here have received International Dark Sky Place certification from DarkSky International, meaning they've demonstrated commitment to protecting night sky quality. Great Basin in Nevada consistently ranks as the darkest, with Bortle Class 1 skies — the darkest possible rating.

Map

Best National Parks for Stargazing

# Park Dark Sky
1
Certified ★
2
Certified ★
3
Certified ★
4
Certified ★
5
Certified ★
6
Certified ★
7
Certified ★
8
Certified ★
9
Certified ★
10
Certified ★

Park Profiles

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park

Colorado · Rockies

Key Facts

Established
1999
Area
30,780 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 506K (2023)
Entry fee
$30/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado protects 30,780 acres of one of the deepest, narrowest canyons in North America, where the Gunnison River carved walls up to 2,722 feet deep through 1.7-billion-year-old Precambrian rock; established in 1999, the park draws about 506,000 visitors a year.

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Bryce Canyon National Park

Utah · Rockies

Key Facts

Established
1928
Area
35,835 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 2.9 million (2023)
Entry fee
$35/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah sits atop the Paunsaugunt Plateau at 8,000 to 9,115 feet elevation, protecting the world's largest concentration of hoodoos — orange and white limestone spires carved by frost; established in 1928, the park draws about 2.9 million visitors a year.

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Canyonlands National Park

Utah · Rockies

Key Facts

Established
1964
Area
337,598 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 840K (2023)
Entry fee
$30/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Canyonlands National Park in Utah protects 337,598 acres of canyon wilderness carved by the Colorado and Green rivers, making it Utah's largest national park. Established in 1964, the park draws roughly 840,000 visitors a year across four separate districts with no connecting roads.

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Capitol Reef National Park

Utah · Rockies

Key Facts

Established
1971
Area
241,904 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 1.5 million (2023)
Entry fee
$20/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Capitol Reef National Park in Utah protects 241,904 acres along the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile wrinkle in Earth's crust that exposes nearly 270 million years of geologic history. Established in 1971, the park draws roughly 1.5 million visitors a year to its canyons, arches, and working pioneer orchards.

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Carlsbad Caverns National Park

New Mexico · Southwest

Key Facts

Established
1930
Area
46,766 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 441K (2023)
Entry fee
$1
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico protects 46,766 acres of Chihuahuan Desert above and below ground, including more than 119 caves formed when sulfuric acid dissolved ancient limestone. Established in 1930 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, the park draws about 441,000 visitors a year to the Big Room and the nightly bat flight.

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Death Valley National Park

California · West

Key Facts

Established
1994
Area
3,422,024 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 1.1 million (2023)
Entry fee
$30/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Death Valley National Park covers 3,422,024 acres of desert basin and mountain in California and Nevada — the largest national park in the contiguous United States, established in 1994 from a national monument that dates to 1933. Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America, and the park holds the world's highest reliably recorded air temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C).

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Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona · Southwest

Key Facts

Established
1919
Area
1,201,647 acres
Entry fee
$35/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Grand Canyon National Park in northwestern Arizona, established February 26, 1919, preserves a 277-mile gorge carved by the Colorado River — over a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide — whose layered walls expose 1.7 billion years of Earth's geological history and rank it among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

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Saguaro National Park

Arizona · Southwest

Key Facts

Established
1994
Area
91,440 acres
Visitors / yr
≈ 1.2 million (2023)
Entry fee
$25/vehicle
Night sky
Dark Sky ★

Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona protects 91,440 acres of Sonoran Desert in two separate districts flanking the city, home to the densest concentrations of giant saguaro cactus in the United States. Established as a national monument in 1933 and designated a national park in 1994, it draws roughly 1.2 million visitors per year.

Read more about Saguaro National Park