Clair Blackburn Memorial Stargazing Park — Attraction in Nevada

We went to Tonopah Stargazing Park for astrophotography. The park itself was created with love. It was fenced in and the chain link had privacy slats to try to block some of the light. It had level concrete pads, concrete benches, and picnic tables. It was clean and easy to get to. The only problem, which is huge for night photography, is the glaring lights from a truck stop that reflected off the galvanized post. The city lights could also been seen from the area. In addition to this, there are ORV trails that surround the small gated park. We were there at night and during the few hours we were there, vehicles would go by with brights on. This effected our night vision and our longer exposure photos. There was also a baseball field right behind the park. Although there wasn't a game at the time of our visit, if you are only there for 1 night, you might consider looking into time of the games. Tonopah does have dark skies and if you know the area, I am sure you could find a place near by to enjoy the sky without lights and interruptions from passing vehicles. We don't have an ORV so we would have been limited. Unfortunately, it was our mistake thinking this would was a prime spot for stargazing. While we did see stars, more than we would have in a city, I wish we would have done further research. AND even though this was not ideal for our astrophotography adventure, I am positive this spot is perfect for other stargazing activities and telescope viewing. I would have loved to have been here during one of the night parties and look through...

This was a great experience for me. Even with the annoying lights from the petrol station, the sky is quite dark and one is able to see so many stars. I met 3 gentlemen there who seem to be the organizers of the night sky "parties". All three guys were great, and two of them had telescopes set up. They explained quite a bit about the constellations and stars, allowing the other visitors to look through the telescopes. One of the guys was a geological scientist and very enjoyable to talk with. I will do it again. Well worth a trip to Tonopah from...

Don’t follow Google Maps, which directs you to a road south of the Texaco. We tried to follow that route which led us on a rough dirt and rock path (at night, of course) and we scraped the bottom of our car on the rocks. Instead, turn on Ray Tennet Way by the coffee shop and head up the hill. After you get there it’s a nice place to see the stars but there is a ton of light pollution from the Texaco back parking lot where the truckers park. It’s really too bad because you can see a lot of stars here, the light pollution just takes away from...