Borrego Springs
Borrego Springs · near Borrego Springs · California Desert
Stargazing
At a glance
- Best season
- Fall–spring; summer heat dangerous; go near new moon
What is here
- Highlights
- milky-way · programs · astrophoto
- Landscape
- desert
- Amenities
- Dark-sky-friendly town lighting · Sky-art sculptures around town · Star parties & astronomy events · Base camp for Anza-Borrego dark sites
- Best for
- A dark-sky town base camp
- Features
- California's first Dark Sky Community · Ringed & shielded by Anza-Borrego · Dark-sky-friendly streetlights · Perfect stargazing base town
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Summer heat dangerous — visit fall–spring · Town skies are good but darker sites lie just outside · Cold desert nights; carry layers · Limited services — a small town
- Beginner friendly
- Yes
Stargazing detail
- Designation
- community
- Reach
- roadside
- Darkness
- 3
- Sky notes
- California's first International Dark Sky Community — a tiny desert town ringed by Anza-Borrego, protected from city light by the surrounding mountains, where even the streetlights are dark-sky friendly and the Milky Way shines over town
- Stats note
- First CA Dark Sky Community (2009; 2nd in the world); ~Bortle 3 in town, darker just outside
- Campground
- Yes
- Intl tip
- California's first International Dark Sky Community (2009; second in the world) — a tiny desert town embedded within Anza-Borrego and shielded from outside light by the surrounding mountains, with dark-sky-friendly lighting so the Milky Way shines even over town (darker sites a short drive out). An ideal, comfortable stargazing base camp, with star parties and famous metal sky sculptures. Town skies ~Bortle 3. Summer heat is dangerous (visit fall–spring); nights are cold; go near a new moon.
The guide
Borrego Springs holds a special place in dark-sky history: in 2009 it became California's first International Dark Sky Communit…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Borrego Springs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.256, -116.375