Dark sky places in Nevada

Nevada has three stargazing places on this site, and the two certified ones are as dark as skies get. Great Basin National Park is a certified Dark Sky Park recording Bortle 1 skies, seen from 10,000 feet on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, with the Milky Way over Wheeler Peak itself. Massacre Rim Wilderness Study Area is a certified Dark Sky Sanctuary at Bortle 2, high desert where Sagittarius and Scorpius stand highest in July. The third place, Valley of Fire State Park, is not certified and has no Bortle class recorded here, but its guide puts the Milky Way over the red sandstone on clear, moonless nights.June to September, around the new moon, is the Great Basin window, and July is the month Massacre Rim names for the Milky Way. Valley of Fire is an October to November park. Nevada’s dark skies are high and dry, so summer nights are the ones to aim for, with the desert heat dropping fast once the sun goes down.