White River Falls State Park

How dark the sky is at White River Falls: Bortle Class 2, typical truly dark site

The zenith sky here reads 21.96 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 White River Falls by season

At latitude 45.2°N, the north celestial pole stands 45° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -45° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 16° 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 White River Falls 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 White River Falls

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

Only skim the southern horizon from White River Falls

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from White River Falls

• 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 White River Falls

The coordinates on this page point to White River Falls day-use area, at 300 m (980 ft): 45.242°N, 121.096°W.

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

White River Falls 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 White River Falls

The nearest town with motels or inns is Maupin, 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 White River Falls

Star parties near White River Falls

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 White River Falls

Observatories within 100 km

• Goldendale Observatory State ParkGoldendale, Washington, 70 km (43 mi), research observatory

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Rose City AstronomersPortland, Oregon, 126 km (78 mi). Meets 3rd Monday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Nightsky-45 Astronomy ClubSalem, Oregon, 159 km (99 mi). Meets 2nd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm
• Friends of Galileo Astronomy ClubLongview, Washington, 177 km (110 mi)
• Tri-City Astronomy ClubRichland, Washington, 180 km (112 mi). Meets Usually 2nd Thursday monthly (venue on club front page)

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

White River Falls record

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