What Are the Best Places to View the Night Sky in Ohio?

Astrotourism is on the rise! While Ohio currently isn’t a “hot spot” for tourism like West Coast states, it’s clear that there could be economical benefits to dark sky preservation. According to the National Park Service’s latest statistics, there were over 300 million park visitors in 2022. This increase in visitors supported 378,000 jobs, $17.5 billion in labor income, and $50.3 billion economic output.

Travel Weekly also reported in 2025 that the 2024 solar eclipse drove interest in experiencing other celestial events, including meteor showers and the auroras.

When our team tables at outreach events throughout the state, one of the most common questions we’re asked is “So where should I go to view the night sky in Ohio?”

Yes, artificial lighting is quite bad in Ohio, but DarkSky Ohio is working to preserve more sites around the state, and there are still plenty of sites you can visit, whether you live in Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, Northeast, or Central Ohio.

Here are our top recommended places for stargazing, separated by Bortle Scale.

Wait! What’s the Bortle Scale?

The Bortle Scale is an arbitrary system, founded by amateur astronomer John Bortle. The system rates sky brightness based on limiting magnitude, which refers to the faintest celestial object that can be detected with the naked eye. In simpler words: How many stars and deep sky objects (such as galaxies) can you see?

The Bortle Scale typically ranges from 1 to 9, with 1 referring to minimal light pollution and 9 referring to the worst light pollution.

We break down the scale as such:

1-2: “Dark Sky Sites”
3-5: Rural Skies (with the higher scale being rural areas closer to cities)
5-6: Suburban areas
7-9: Urban/City

Bortle 3 Rural Skies

Jackson Lake State Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 921 Tommy Been Rd., Oak Hill, OH 45656
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Lake Hope State Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 27331 OH-278 McArthur, OH 45651
Designated DarkSky Place?: No (Certification process in progress)
Plan Your Visit

Hocking Hills State Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 19852 State Route 664 Logan, OH 43138
Designated DarkSky Place?: No (Certification process in progress)
Plan Your Visit

Shawnee State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 4404 State Route 125 West Portsmouth, OH 45663
Designated DarkSky Place?: No (Certification process in progress)
Plan Your Visit

Wayne National Forest

Region: Southeast
Address: 13700 US Highway 33 Nelsonville, OH 45764
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Bortle 4 Transitional Rural Skies

Burr Oak State Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 10220 Burr Oak Lodge Rd., Glouster, OH 45732
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Fry Family Park

Region: Northeast
Address: 2533 Farber St. SE Magnolia, OH 44643
Designated DarkSky Place?: Yes (Urban Night Sky Place since 2021)
Plan Your Visit

John Glenn Astronomy Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 20531 OH-664 Scenic, Logan, OH 43138 (In Hocking Hills)
Designated DarkSky Place?: No (certification process in progress)
Plan Your Visit

Geauga Observatory Park

Region: Northeast
Address: 10610 Clay St., Montville, OH 44064
Designated DarkSky Place?: Yes (Dark Sky Park since 2011)
Plan Your Visit

Bortle 5 Rural to Suburban

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park

Region: Central
Address: 1775 Darby Creek Dr., Galloway, OH 43119
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Bath Nature Preserve

Region: Northeast
Address: 4160 Ira Rd., Akron, OH 44333
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Region: Northeast
Address: 6947 Riverview Rd., Peninsula, OH 44264 (Visitor Center)
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Caesar Creek State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 8570 OH-73, Waynesville, OH 45068
Designated DarkSky Place?: No (certification process in progress)
Plan Your Visit

Cowan Lake State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 1750 Osborn Rd., Wilmington, OH 45177
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Dillon State Park

Region: Southeast
Address: 5265 Dillon Hills Dr., Nashport, OH 43830
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Hueston Woods State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 6301 Park Office Rd., College Corner, OH 45003
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

John Bryan State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 3790 OH-370, Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Kendrick Woods Metro Park

Region: Northwest
Address: 971 Defiance Trail N., Spencerville, OH 45887
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Kiser Lake State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 4889 OH-235, Conover, OH 45317
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Middle Bass Island State Park

Region: Northeast
Address: 1719 Fox, Middle Bass, OH 43446
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Mohican State Park

Region: Northeast
Address: 3116 OH-3, Loudonville, OH 44842
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Paint Creek State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 280 Taylor Rd., Bainbridge, OH 45612
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Stonelick State Park

Region: Southwest
Address: 2895 Lake Dr., Pleasant Plain, OH 45162
Designated DarkSky Place?: No
Plan Your Visit

Tips for Being a Responsible Astrotourist

• Call Ahead: Let the Park Manager know that you’re traveling specifically to view the night sky. Unfortunately, many campgrounds still feature bright, LED lights near the bathrooms, but the Park may be able to make special accommodations. We’re working on getting all of these lights replaced!
  
• Use Red Light: Most red lamps feature a red mode, but you can also find red flashlights and lanterns. For a cheaper option, you can wrap red cellophane around an existing flashlight. Why red light? It helps preserve your (and others’) night vision. Your rods are sensitive to light, so when your eyes are exposed to bright white lights, it can take up to 30 minutes for your eyes to readjust or adapt to the night. Red light won’t cause this to happen because the rods respond weakly to red wavelengths.
  
• Leave No Trace: While this is a standard statement said by many outdoor enthusiast, it also applies to astrotourism. Do your best not to disrupt the wildlife or their habitat.
  
• Follow the Rules: DarkSky-designated places have rules in place to help preserve the night sky. Be respectful of them.
  
• Turn Your Flash Off: If you’re using your phone to take images of the night sky, please remember to turn your flash off! For most phones, the flash is automatically turned on when the camera’s night mode is activated.
  
• Point Your Light Down: Respect others by keeping your light, red or not, pointed at the ground. If you’re wearing a headlamp, adjust the angle or turn it off when talking to someone.

What Does It Take to Become DarkSky-Certified?

While there are many places in Ohio that are already taking measures to preserve their skies, becoming DarkSky-Certified is a longer process. There are several categories: Sanctuary, Reserves, Parks, Communities, and Urban Night Sky Places. For most places in Ohio, Parks, Communities, and Urban Night Sky Places are the only achievable categories due to the surrounding cities.

The requirements vary based on the category the organization is applying for.

The process for all certifications includes:

1. Reaching out to a local chapter (such as DarkSky Ohio) to state an interest in becoming certified.
2. Reading through the Dark Sky Place materials for the category the organization is interested in.
3. Assessing the city’s lighting ordinances.
4. Gathering support from the community. If the organization already has a proclamation, they can use it. Nonprofits, local officials, businesses, and other community leaders can also write letters of support to aid in this process.
5. Requesting a formal nomination from a DarkSky member in good standing.
6. Filling out the pre-application inquiry form and non-refundable fee.
7. Undergoing the formal application and review process, which involves taking lighting surveys to show compliance with DarkSky lighting requirements, upgrading non-compliant lighting, making updates to existing lighting policies, and planning outreach events to support DarkSky’s mission.
8. DarkSky assess the application.

The entire process can take several years, depending on the certification. Sanctuaries require the most work. Any rejected applications can be resubmitted for an additional review once revisions have been made. If the applicant doesn’t meet all eligibility requirements, the application will be conditionally endorsed, granted that the applicant completes the requested modifications and resubmits the application for a second review.

DarkSky Ohio Is Here to Help

Is your business, organization, or neighborhood interested in becoming DarkSky-certified? Our team at DarkSky Ohio can help! We can walk you through the certification process, provide sky quality monitoring training, and conduct a preemptive lighting survey to provide retrofit suggestions before applying. Contact us today to learn more about the certification process, or download a PDF of our recommended stargazing locations and share it with friends! (Note: John Bryan State Park is not listed on there yet).

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Best Locations by Region:

• Northwest: Kendrick Woods Metro Park
• Northeast: Bath Nature Preserve, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Fry Family Park, Geauga Observatory Park, Middle Bass State Park, Mohican State Park
• Central: Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park
• Southeast: Burr Oak State Park, Dillon State Park, John Glenn Astronomy Park, Jackson Lake State Park, Lake Hope State Park, Hocking Hills State Park, Wayne National Forest
• Southwest: Caesar Creek State Park, Cowan Lake State Park, Hueston Woods State Park, John Bryan State Park, Kiser Lake State Park, Paint Creek State Park, Shawnee State Park, Stonelick State Park