The PNW, Pacific Northwest, has a plethora of unique landscapes for one to explore and experience! Including the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula to the high deserts of central Oregon and everything in between, here are 5 other worldly places to go stargazing in the Pacific Northwest that you will enjoy and have a great view of the nights sky!

1. Craters Of The Moon National Monument
   Located in Idaho between the towns of Arco and Carey, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. national monument and national preserve in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. With an average elevation of 5,900 feet above sea level, this IDA recognized dark sky park is open every day of the year with peak visitation occurring between late spring and early fall. With 3 lava fields, the monument looks like the moon, which is how it got its name. The site is an amazing place for stargazing due to its large area, distance away from light pollution, and a lot of opportunities for you to find out!
   
2. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
   Located near John Day, Oregon, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is an amazing place to visit and stargaze at. Not only are the fossil beds amazing to look at and are other worldly during the day, at night, the some parts of the area can be said to look bit like Tatooine from Star Wars.
   
3. Maryhill Stonehenge 
   Located in Maryhill, Washington in an area with dark skies, this Stonehenge replica looks other worldly at night.
   
4. Crater Lake National Park
   The only National Park in Oregon, Crater Lake National Park makes this list not only for its remote location and dark skies, but also for its clear blue waters and natural beauty. When we visited, we couldn’t help but notice how alien the lake looked at night and how clear the skies were. This provided an amazing opportunity to stargaze but one that seemed completely otherworldly.
   
5. Wreck Of The Peter Iredale
   The remains of a four-masted steel barque that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to the Columbia River, the Peter Iredale was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about four miles south of the Columbia River channel. What makes this site unique is not necessarily that the conditions are amazing or that the spit is the best location for stargazing. But rather, what makes this site amazing is that the nights sky can provide a spooky opportunity to provide the viewer with a sense of imagination of being on another planet, looking at the nights sky with a wreck of an imagined ship or building.

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