How far is the nearest dark sky from each city?

For the 1013 towns and cities of 50,000 people or more on Yozora Atlas, the quickest drive to a sky of Bortle 4 or darker, where the Milky Way shows overhead. Half of them get there in 1 h 11 min or less, 294 within an hour. The longest is 3 h 41 min, from Vineland.

The states, provinces and nations closest to a dark sky

Ranked by the median city in each region, counting only cities with a reachable Bortle 4 spot within 150 km. Regions with one city show that city. New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware sit at the far end.

State or region	Cities	Median drive	Within 1 hour	Quickest from
Montana · United States	3	36 min	2 of 3	Great Falls36 min
Saskatchewan · Canada	2	38 min	2 of 2	Saskatoon37 min
Ulster · Ireland	1	43 min	1 of 1	Letterkenny43 min
Northern Ireland · United Kingdom	5	50 min	4 of 5	Derry42 min
Munster · Ireland	5	51 min	3 of 5	Ennis45 min
Nevada · United States	9	52 min	7 of 9	North Las Vegas35 min
Nebraska · United States	4	52 min	4 of 4	Grand Island42 min
Leinster · Ireland	14	55 min	12 of 14	Wexford25 min
Newfoundland and Labrador · Canada	1	56 min	1 of 1	St. John's56 min
Kansas · United States	7	56 min	5 of 7	Manhattan39 min
North Dakota · United States	3	56 min	3 of 3	Grand Forks50 min
Iowa · United States	10	58 min	6 of 10	Ames36 min
Rhode Island · United States	2	58 min	1 of 2	Warwick54 min
Oklahoma · United States	9	58 min	6 of 9	Edmond37 min
Alberta · Canada	10	58 min	7 of 10	Airdrie33 min
New Brunswick · Canada	3	59 min	2 of 3	Fredericton48 min
Minnesota · United States	14	59 min	8 of 14	Saint Paul51 min
Manitoba · Canada	1	1 h 00 min	1 of 1	Winnipeg1 h 00 min
Utah · United States	11	1 h 00 min	6 of 11	Lehi46 min
Scotland · United Kingdom	11	1 h 01 min	5 of 11	Kirkcaldy48 min
Arkansas · United States	7	1 h 02 min	3 of 7	Fort Smith50 min
Kentucky · United States	6	1 h 02 min	3 of 6	Bowling Green53 min
Missouri · United States	12	1 h 02 min	5 of 12	Blue Springs34 min
Alabama · United States	9	1 h 03 min	4 of 9	Montgomery50 min
South Carolina · United States	5	1 h 03 min	1 of 5	Columbia55 min
England · United Kingdom	169	1 h 06 min	67 of 169	Weymouth20 min
Mississippi · United States	3	1 h 06 min	1 of 3	Southaven1 h 00 min
Tennessee · United States	14	1 h 06 min	4 of 14	Kingsport40 min
Wales · United Kingdom	7	1 h 07 min	1 of 7	Cardiff58 min
Wyoming · United States	2	1 h 07 min	1 of 2	Cheyenne32 min
Idaho · United States	6	1 h 08 min	1 of 6	Idaho Falls56 min
Oregon · United States	10	1 h 08 min	4 of 10	Albany55 min
Maine · United States	1	1 h 09 min	0 of 1	Portland1 h 09 min
Louisiana · United States	7	1 h 10 min	2 of 7	Shreveport38 min
South Dakota · United States	2	1 h 10 min	1 of 2	Sioux Falls55 min
Washington · United States	21	1 h 12 min	3 of 21	Spokane43 min
Arizona · United States	18	1 h 12 min	6 of 18	Lake Havasu City29 min
Nova Scotia · Canada	2	1 h 13 min	0 of 2	Halifax1 h 09 min
Ontario · Canada	35	1 h 14 min	8 of 35	North Bay32 min
New Hampshire · United States	2	1 h 14 min	0 of 2	Nashua1 h 11 min
Wisconsin · United States	12	1 h 14 min	3 of 12	Janesville54 min
Connacht · Ireland	2	1 h 15 min	1 of 2	Galway56 min
Hawaii · United States	1	1 h 15 min	0 of 1	Honolulu1 h 15 min
New Mexico · United States	5	1 h 15 min	1 of 5	Enchanted Hills51 min
Connecticut · United States	13	1 h 16 min	2 of 13	Waterbury52 min
Virginia · United States	17	1 h 17 min	1 of 17	Virginia Beach58 min
Florida · United States	57	1 h 18 min	12 of 57	Palm Coast40 min
Quebec · Canada	15	1 h 19 min	1 of 15	Granby54 min
Massachusetts · United States	15	1 h 22 min	2 of 15	Fall River29 min
California · United States	134	1 h 26 min	23 of 134	Santa Cruz20 min
Texas · United States	66	1 h 26 min	20 of 66	Amarillo35 min
Georgia · United States	17	1 h 27 min	3 of 17	Athens36 min
North Carolina · United States	18	1 h 28 min	5 of 18	Jacksonville25 min
Colorado · United States	18	1 h 28 min	2 of 18	Aurora42 min
Indiana · United States	17	1 h 32 min	3 of 17	Bloomington37 min
Alaska · United States	1	1 h 33 min	0 of 1	Anchorage1 h 33 min
Illinois · United States	23	1 h 45 min	4 of 23	Decatur42 min
Michigan · United States	24	1 h 45 min	3 of 24	Grand Rapids42 min
Ohio · United States	14	1 h 46 min	1 of 14	Youngstown52 min
New York · United States	21	1 h 52 min	2 of 21	Rochester54 min
British Columbia · Canada	17	2 h 09 min	3 of 17	Kamloops58 min
District of Columbia · United States	1	2 h 14 min	0 of 1	Washington2 h 14 min
New Jersey · United States	15	2 h 14 min	0 of 15	Parsippany1 h 37 min
Maryland · United States	11	2 h 15 min	0 of 11	Waldorf1 h 17 min
Pennsylvania · United States	13	2 h 15 min	1 of 13	Erie59 min
Delaware · United States	1	2 h 43 min	0 of 1	Wilmington2 h 43 min

The cities with the quickest drive to a Bortle 4 sky

The first twenty; search or filter for any city.

1011 places

Cities with no Bortle 4 sky you can drive to within 150 km

Jackson (New Jersey), Toms River (New Jersey). The land within 150 km is either too bright or, for an island, reached by ferry.

How the drive times are made

Each city page lists the darkest car parks, viewpoints, campsites and trailheads it can reach within 50, 100 and 150 km, with drive times from OSRM route planning starting at the city center. This page takes the quickest of those at Bortle 4 or darker. A spot counts only if the route averages 30 km/h or more, is at most 2.5 times the straight line and ends within 3 km of the spot, so ferries and backcountry hikes are out. Night-time traffic and closed car parks are not known. How it works