“The Equality State” is well known for its open plains with roaming bison and cowboys working under beautiful snow capped mountains. It is also home to some very nice stargazing locations.
If you are looking for great places to stargaze in the amazing state of Wyoming, this might just be the right guide for you. As avid stargazers that travel frequently, we love visiting this great for so much, but especially the stars. So, we created the Wyoming State Park Guide to Stargazing to plan our adventures and are happy to share it with you to help you plan yours too.
All over Wyoming, you will find some of the best places to stargaze and some of them can be found in state parks. In the Google Sheet below, you will be able to quickly search for your next dark sky state park campground. If you would like to just sit back and stargaze while RVing or after pitching your tent, this guide will give you an idea if the campgrounds are clear of visual obstructions and dark skies based on Bortle levels.
Where Can I See the Stars in Wyoming?
When we say dark, we mean dark. Wyoming has to be ranked near the top as a destination for anyone that loves stargazing. If you look at a light pollution map of the state of Wyoming, you will notice it is almost completely covered with Bortle 2 skies and even some Bortle 1 areas. That means you should be pretty happy stargazing just about anywhere in the state. The only small areas of light pollution center around the cities of Gillette in the northeastern part of the state and Casper close to the center. Rock Springs in the southwest also is an area with some light pollution. Since these cities are relatively small, it doesn’t take long to escape to darker skies and enjoy the stars to their fullest.
If you are looking for a place to enjoy the stars in Wyoming, the state parks are a great option. There are lots of options for both tent campers and RVers in just about every part of the state, and you should be very happy with the amenities available at most campgrounds. You will find sites all throughout the park system with electric, water, and sewer if you are RVing. When arriving at one of the parks, don’t forget to check with the park office or rangers to see what stargazing and astronomy programs are offered at the time of your visit.
It is both Alison and my hope our spreadsheet allows you to more easily plan your next Wyoming stargazing camping trip.
Wyoming State Parks Dark Sky Guide
If you love to camp specifically to enjoy the night sky, we have shared our personal camping spreadsheet to help you quickly find the best campground to see the stars.
Listed below the Google Sheet, we share what each categories represents.
If you are on a mobile device, slide the graph left or right to see more data.
Graph Key
Name: This is the name of the state park.
Region: This is the general region of the state where the park is located.
Dark Sky: This is the approximate Bortle level. Read this article first if you aren’t sure what we mean. Typically avoid red, orange, and yellow for the best stargazing.
Obstruction: How many trees will block your view of the sky? “Open” gives you the best chance of having a clear view at almost all campsites. “Partial” means there are some sites with clear views and some without. “Obstructed” means most campsites have a blocked view of the sky.
Special Notes: Since we mainly camp in an RV, this column of the spreadsheet helps you see if it is a state park that only offers tent camping or if there is no camping. We have also used a strikethrough to cross out the parks currently where no camping is allowed.
About the Authors
We are avid stargazers Jason and Alison Takacs also known as Roadtrippin’ with Takacs. With our two boys Preston and Grayson, we seek out some of the darkest skies in the country while also going on many incredible hiking and other outdoor adventures. As part-time RVers, we try to see as much of this amazing world as possible in our spare time and hope you will join us through this blog on RWT Adventures and other forms of social media as we explore the night sky and other natural wonders as hardcore astrotourists.