
Natural Beauty, Public Beaches, Great Wine and Starry Nights Attract Astrotourists
Oregon is known for its natural beauty, public beaches and great wine. Now it’s becoming known worldwide as Dark Sky Country.
As reported by Jamie Hale of The Oregonian, Oregon already is home to the world’s largest Dark Sky Sanctuary and Travel Oregon is actively promoting astrotourism for people who love to stare at stars, planets and the Milky Way.
Unlike other tourist attractions, dark sky lookouts require very few capital improvements. The main requirement is lots of space with no mercury vapor or other distracting lights.
The Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary, located in the southeast corner of the state, covers 2.5 million acres, which is roughly half the size of New Jersey. Already the largest dark sanctuary on the planet, Hale reports there are plans to increase its size to 11.4 million acres spanning parts of three counties. (Illustration by Mark Graves of The Oregonian.)
Oregon has three Dark Sky Parks – Prineville Reservoir State Park, Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve and Cottonwood Canyon State Park. There are two designated Dark Sky Communities – Sisters and Antelope. Sunriver became Oregon’s first Dark Sky Place, a designation that has since been discontinued, but the resort remains a great place to peer into the skies.
eNRG Kayaking in Oregon City conducts full-moon paddle tours near Willamette Falls. OMSI, Rose City Astronomers and Oregon wineries and breweries collaborate on star parties at vineyard venues with dark sky views. Resorts like Black Butte Ranch hold promotions that appeal to astrotourists.
Dark Skies Nationwide
Dark skies aren’t just an Oregon thing. There are 60 protected dark sky areas in the United States. Many national parks contain dark sky areas, including the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Death Valley.
In addition to gazing at faraway galaxies, Dark Sky tourism can include moon-bathing, nocturnal creature guided tours, indigenous and cowboy storytelling and night-sky inspired artistic events.
National Geographic reports budding nationwide fascination with stargazing, “There is a growing list of official U.S. Dark Sky Preserves that provide ideal settings for stargazing. More and more cities, towns and regions are working to preserve their night skies, support light-sensitive wildlife populations, ensure their residents have access to dark skies and enhance their tourism industry.” Dark Sky watching is an international phenomenon, too.
Some Dark Sky Preserves, such as Big Bend National Park in west Texas and northern Mexico, serve as protected areas for wildlife and plant life. Four hundred species of birds migrate through the Bid Bend region using the stars and moon for navigation.
Dark sky protections also benefit research. “Dark sky protections not only contribute to healthy ecosystems, they also serve as natural laboratories for large-scale field studies. At Big Bend, these protections allow for revolutionary research into the cosmos such as surveying dark energy, the force causing acceleration of the universe’s expansion,” according to officials at McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas. Their research also is on the lookout for a newly discovered star or black hole.
Some of the most spectacular U.S. stargazing locations are on the Big Island in Hawaii, ranging from the majestic summit of Mauna Kea to the lava flows in Volcanoes National Park. You can avoid the dangers of summiting on a cinder road by stopping at the 9,200-foot Maunakea Visitor Information Center. The Haleakala Observatory on Maui is a favorite for astrophotographers.
Astrotourism: A Year-Round Attraction
Veteran stargazers often like to avoid national parks because of crowds. Sprawling dark sky areas like in Southeast Oregon are appealing because they are remote and don’t attract the casual sky observer. That’s what Oregon tourism officials are counting on.
“Dark Sky Tourism is an in-demand, sustainable and, in some cases, regenerative tourism experience that serves dual purposes of providing awe-inspiring opportunities for visitors and reducing the negative impacts of light pollution on people and wildlife,” Travel Oregon wrote last year. “As travelers increasingly seek out stars, awareness of the many benefits of spending time under a dark sky has grown.”

Warner Valley Overlook in Southeast Oregon
“Oregon is fortunate to have an abundance of dark skies. In fact, much of Eastern Oregon comprises the largest and most pristine dark sky zone in the contiguous United States,” according to Travel Oregon. “Efforts led by the tourism industry and dark sky advocate partners are ensuring we can protect Oregon’s starry sky heritage for generations to come while sharing it with a growing number of dark-sky-loving visitors.”
An overlooked value of dark sky tourism is that it isn’t seasonal. The sky is visible year round. Winter months in Oregon have longer nights, making a trek to remote rural areas all the more attractive to tourists.
Certifying the Largest Dark Sky Sanctuary
A team led by Travel Southern Oregon achieved certification last March of a 2.5-million-acre area of southeastern Oregon as the world’s largest International Dark Sky Sanctuary as designated by Dark Sky International. Travel Oregon said to qualify as a Dark Sky Sanctuary, the area had to meet strict criteria for sky quality, commit to protecting the night sky through responsible lighting practices and provide public outreach.
To gain certification, the Oregon Outback Dark Sky Network (ODSN), a voluntary grassroots organization dedicated to dark sky conservation on a landscape scale, worked hand-in-hand for four years with partners such as the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, tribes, businesses, ranchers, landowners and other stakeholders to develop a shared Lighting Management Plan (LMP). Travel Oregon and Travel Southern Oregon provided funding.
“This four-year collaboration brings together so many of the elements we try to achieve in regenerative tourism,” said Bob Hackett, executive director of Travel Southern Oregon. “It not only elevates the destination experience for visitors to Lake County and opens up opportunities for local businesses, but it also helps agencies and residents steward their lands in ways that celebrate a legacy of starry night skies for generations to come.”