The best stargazing in the US is on Mauna Kea in Hawaii for altitude and the southern stars, in Death Valley and Joshua Tree in California for desert darkness within reach of the cities, in Utah for the most dark sky places of any state, and in Arizona for its observatories. All five have tours compared on this site.

Mezzotint illustration of a desert road among Joshua trees at night, a figure seen from behind beside a parked car — Illustration: the desert parks of California and the Southwest, dark within a drive of the cities.

The five, compared

Place	Why go	Dark-sky designation	Featured tour from
Mauna Kea, Hawaii	The highest viewpoint, about 2,800 m; furthest south	None for the mountain	US$289
Death Valley, California	A Gold Tier park, on a day trip from Las Vegas	International Dark Sky Park, Gold Tier (2013)	US$249
Joshua Tree, California	Two hours from Los Angeles; the fewest cloudy nights here	International Dark Sky Park, Silver Tier (2017)	US$189
Utah (Arches, Moab)	Night hikes among the arches	Arches: International Dark Sky Park (2019)	US$175
Arizona (Sedona, Flagstaff, Kitt Peak)	Observatories and private forest-land nights	Flagstaff, the first Dark Sky City (2001); Sedona (2014)	US$200

Prices per person as of October 2026, for the tour each page features.

Where is the darkest place in the US to stargaze?

Of the US places on this site, Mauna Kea’s published readings reach the darkest. Joshua Tree’s own readings are darkest in the park’s east and brightest on its north-west edge, near Yucca Valley, where the telescope tour meets. The numbers, with where and when each was taken, are on the darkest destinations ranking. Death Valley, Arches and Sedona have no published reading for the places the tours observe from.

Which state has the most dark sky parks?

Utah. It counts more than 20 International Dark Sky Places, all five of its national parks among them, and more dark sky state parks than any other state park system. The world’s first International Dark Sky Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, designated in March 2007, is in Utah too.

Where is the Milky Way most visible in the US?

The further south, the higher the Milky Way’s core climbs. From Mauna Kea, at about 20 degrees north, it stands far higher than from Utah or the California deserts, and the Southern Cross clears the horizon on spring nights. On the mainland, the desert parks of California and Arizona see it higher than Utah does. On the mainland the core season runs from April or May to August at the latest; on Mauna Kea, from March to September. Everywhere it peaks from May to July.

Which state has the best night sky?

There is no single answer: Hawaii has the altitude, Utah the most designated places, California the dark parks within reach of two big cities, and Arizona the observatories. The first International Dark Sky Reserve in the US, the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, was approved in December 2017; no tour on this site goes there.

By the trip you are already on

In Las Vegas: Death Valley, with hotel pickup on the Strip.
In Los Angeles or Palm Springs: Joshua Tree.
On Hawaii’s Big Island: Mauna Kea, with pickups on the Kona side.
On a national parks loop: Arches and Moab.
In Sedona, Flagstaff or Tucson: Arizona, from private nights to Kitt Peak; kittpeaktours.com covers the observatory’s night programs in depth.

For the right week, see the best time to go stargazing; for what each designation means, what a dark sky reserve is.

The Best Stargazing in the US, From Mauna Kea to the Utah Parks