Saddle Mountain State Natural Area

How dark the sky is at Saddle Mountain: Bortle Class 2, typical truly dark site

The zenith sky here reads 21.90 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is as dark as a natural sky gets: almost all the glow comes from airglow and starlight, not lamps.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added. On the night, haze, smoke, humidity and the Moon set the real limit; see every Bortle Class 2 place.

What's up from Saddle Mountain by season

At latitude 46.0°N, the north celestial pole stands 46° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -44° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 15° above the southern horizon. These are the constellations well placed, 35° or more above the horizon, at about 10 pm in the middle of each season, brightest first.

Showpieces from Saddle Mountain through the year

At about 10 pm on the 15th of each month; a dash means the sight is below 25° then.

Never set from Saddle Mountain

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Lacerta
• Lynx
• Ursa Major
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Saddle Mountain

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from Saddle Mountain

• Apus
• Ara
• Carina
• Centaurus
• Chamaeleon
• Circinus
• Crux
• Dorado
• Grus
• Horologium
• Hydrus
• Indus
• Mensa
• Musca
• Norma
• Octans
• Pavo
• Phoenix
• Pictor
• Reticulum
• Telescopium
• Triangulum Australe
• Tucana
• Vela
• Volans

Where to set up at Saddle Mountain

The coordinates on this page point to Saddle Mountain summit (trailhead campground below), at 1,001 m (3,280 ft): 45.966°N, 123.686°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Arrive before dark, park facing away from other observers, and use red light only.

Saddle Mountain among the dark sky places of Oregon

Each dot is a dark sky place, colored by Bortle class; select one for its page. Diamonds are star parties. See Oregon dark sky places for the full list, darkest first.

Camping and lodging at Saddle Mountain

The nearest town with motels or inns is Seaside, OR. Check the official site for campgrounds and overnight rules; many parks close their gates at night, so ask about after-dark access.

Dark sky places nearest Saddle Mountain

Star parties near Saddle Mountain

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Oregon puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

Observatories and astronomy clubs near Saddle Mountain

Observatories within 100 km

• Vernonia Peak Observatory (VPO)Vernonia, Oregon, 41 km (26 mi), research observatory

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Friends of Galileo Astronomy ClubLongview, Washington, 59 km (37 mi)
• Rose City AstronomersPortland, Oregon, 94 km (59 mi). Meets 3rd Monday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Nightsky-45 Astronomy ClubSalem, Oregon, 132 km (82 mi). Meets 2nd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm
• Tacoma Astronomical SocietyTacoma, Washington, 166 km (103 mi)

See observatories and astronomy clubs in Oregon. Local clubs often hold their star parties at dark sky places like this one.

Saddle Mountain record

From the site's dark sky places dataset (parks_q426). The sky by season is computed from the coordinates.