There are 14 US states with State Parks that are Bortle 1 scale, which is the darkest that the skies could be. Of these 14 states, 2 states have at least 5 Bortle 1 sites and only 1 state has at least 10 Bortle 1 sites. Please note that this is a snapshot in time, as size and darkness change over time. But these dark sky parks are great places to go and have a great potential to have nobody around for miles.

If we’re going to go by area, then we will have to say that Alaska would almost certainly sweep the top 5 and maybe even Top 10. However, to make the list interesting and the parks more accessible to the majority of Americans, let’s take a look at the 48 contiguous US states.

Please note that some of these parks have different prices for entry, camping, and recreational use. Plus the number of campsites and information will vary per park. Make sure to stay safe and take steps to leave the area as clean or cleaner than when you visited. The last thing we want to support is the unsafe and improper use of these state parks.

1. Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, California, 7,250-acres
2. Sumner Lake State Park, New Mexico 6,700 acres
3. Judge C.R. Magney State Park, Minnesota 4,643 acres
4. Goblin Valley State Park, Utah 3,654 acres
5. Wild Horse Reservoir State Recreation Area, Nevada 2,830 acres

Here’s a map with each of these parks. Notice how they are all in the central or western part of the US. Thats because these states are larger in size and have fewer populations, in more centralized locations.

For more information about the darkest state parks in the US, make sure to check out our article and check out our article on other dark sky state parks here.