View the Milky Way from Idaho’s Newest Dark Sky Park

Idaho’s Bruneau Dunes State Park is the newest International Dark Sky Park Certified Park, marking the state’s third Dark Sky Park and fifth Dark Sky designation overall. The park is home to two of the most powerful public telescopes in the state and, thanks to the designation, the park can further promote outreach and education about preserving night sky conditions in an increasingly light-polluted world.

The park’s observatory allows visitors to see the night sky like never before. Observatory tours and solar viewing begin one hour before sunset and are free. Guests can then view a short orientation program and have the chance to survey the skies through the observatory’s collection of telescopes for a per-person viewing fee.

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The observatory is open to the public from early April through mid-October on Friday and Saturday nights only, weather permitting. The dome of the new observatory is also used as a planetarium, providing programs during the day and on cloudy nights.

Bruneau Dunes State Park lies about an hour southeast of Boise on the southern part of the Snake River Plain. For presentation times, call 208 366 7919 or check the kiosk when you arrive at the park.