California’s oft-photographed Joshua Tree National Park draws scores of visitors during the daytime. Its rock formations and Seussian namesake trees are the main attraction.
A new designation will certainly bring more visitors after the sun goes down, as Joshua Tree celebrates being named an International Dark Sky Park in August.
The park is being recognized by an international body that preserves and protects dark sites to keep star gazing available, as well as nocturnal environments for educational and scientific purposes. The designation is new, but the park is already known for its dark skies.
The International Dark Sky Association says the national park is a virtually unique setting, given it’s located near a metropolitan area of 4 million people and is “the last pool of natural darkness remaining in Southern California in its eastern extremity.” For most of the 18 million inhabitants of Los Angeles, the park is the easiest access to star gazing.
Joshua Tree offers a program of education and outreach and convinced neighboring areas to make improvements to lighting to help keep the park dark.
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