Dark sky places in Texas

Texas has 22 certified dark-sky places out of 25, and the west of the state is where the darkest skies sit. Big Bend National Park records Bortle 1 skies over the desert and the Chisos Mountains, with free ranger night-sky programmes, and it sits inside the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, also Bortle 1, which crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico. Big Bend Ranch State Park at Bortle 2 runs new-moon star parties through the year. The Hill Country towns are certified too: Fredericksburg at Bortle 4, Dripping Springs at Bortle 5, which holds the Texas Night Sky Festival each March, and Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, where the Milky Way arches over the granite dome.March to October is the Big Bend season, and the Milky Way core is best from July to September. The Hill Country works year-round, with star parties through the year at Enchanted Rock. The two uncertified parks in the west, Davis Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains, both record Bortle 1 skies, so the Big Bend country rewards a trip that takes in more than one park.