Dark sky places in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has two stargazing places on this site, and the certified one is the darkest ground in the state. Black Mesa State Park is an International Dark Sky Park recording Bortle 1 skies, in the high-point country of the Panhandle, and its own guide calls its skies the darkest in the state. The Milky Way shows there on clear, moonless nights year-round. The other place is Beavers Bend State Park in the southeast, which records Bortle 3 skies, where the Milky Way shows bright and detailed, with the Great Rift and the Andromeda Galaxy on a good night.Black Mesa works year-round, which makes it the easy pick for any clear, moonless night. Beavers Bend is a June to August park, with the Perseids in mid-August. If you can only go to one, go to Black Mesa; if you are in the southeast, Beavers Bend gives you a proper Milky Way without the drive to the Panhandle.