Goldendale Observatory State Park — Attraction in Goldendale

What a cool visit to the Goldendale Observatory! Have been traveling along I-84 for years and keep telling ourselves that its just a short detour north and we really should go. Finally did and it was so worth the trip. Can be easily combined with a visit to the Maryhill Museum and Stonehedge Memorial for a full day. The presenter, Troy Carpenter, did a fantastic job engaging everyone there and presenting the information in a way that was both perfect for those with the tech/science brains and the layman who can't remember any of their science classes. (that would be me :-) Was very fun to hear everyone from high school students to the well seasoned adults work together to answer questions Troy posed during the presentation. We attended the solar presentation on a sunny march day. It was the highlight of our day. Tips to keep in mind: go to the observatory website and reserve a presentation seat/let them know you will be there. Lots of good information listed on the site to know about before visiting. bring your State Park Discovery Pass if you have one since it is a state park. If you forget or need one, you can get a daily pass at the observatory. Presentations still occur if mother natures does not cooperate. We lucked out with a cloudless day but even if it had been raining the presentation would not have been diminished. We're looking forward to another trip - next time to catch the...

So far I’ve been to the observatory five or six times. I’ve gone four times for the night show just did solar show for the first time and I am about to do the night show again. I’ve made reservations to come here two more times this year.

It’s best to go in September when the nights are longer and the weather still pretty good. It’s always good to go when there’s a new moon to the sky is dark enough. Every single time I come here I have a spiritual experience. A joke with my friends that this is my church, but it’s kinda not really a joke.

The telescopes are cool the programming is excellent and education component is top-tier. The director of the facility has an extensive amount of knowledge and experience to explain to you what you’re seeing, what’s going on in the sky, why it’s like that and answer any myriad of questions. Even though I’ve been here many times I still learn so much and get to see so many cool things.

Make sure you bring enough layers of clothing, even on hot days. Get there early see the good parking. Accessibility wise you have to climb up a pretty tall ladder to see the big telescope and a smaller telescope. You have to use a smaller ladder. There are some seating but there’s a lot of waiting in line so just be prepared. Make sure you grab you and your friends and family T-shirts because that funds equipment upgrades. I cannot highly recommend this...

This is a great spot to visit! One thing that makes this observatory unique is that it is located in a state park and is one of the only observatories that is frequently used by the public. I went for the solar showing and to be honest my expectations were fairly low, but The show was absolutely amazing! The presenter, Troy, was extremely knowledgeable and had a dry humor that made his almost two hour lecture on the sun very entertaining and informative. We started by looking through the main telescope at the sun through a Mylar filter. This view was somewhat unimpressive, due to the smoke and low activity of the sun, but a few people were able to see fairly small sun spots on the surface. Shortly after Troy set up an electronic telescope that gave incredible detail of the surface of the sun, which included an impressive prominence on the bottom edge. After this we headed inside and were taught basically anything one would ever need to know in regards to the sun. This included the life cycle of stars, the importance of magnetism, and the dynamics of thermonuclear fusion. Troy was also very responsive to any question from the trivial to the very challenging, and he always seemed to have a good answer. I will definitely plan on going back again to catch a...