Yellowstone Lake State Park

How dark the sky is at Yellowstone Lake: Bortle Class 3, rural sky

The zenith sky here reads 21.72 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.3 times the brightness of a pristine natural sky (22.0), the extra coming from artificial light scattered in the air.

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 3 place.

What's up from Yellowstone Lake by season

At latitude 42.8°N, the north celestial pole stands 43° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -47° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 18° 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 Yellowstone Lake 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 Yellowstone Lake

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Yellowstone Lake

• Caelum
• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Vela

Never rise from Yellowstone Lake

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

Where to set up at Yellowstone Lake

The coordinates on this page point to Yellowstone Lake park area, at 290 m (950 ft): 42.763°N, 89.978°W.

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

Yellowstone Lake among the dark sky places of Wisconsin

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

Camping and lodging at Yellowstone Lake

The nearest town with motels or inns is Darlington, WI. 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 Yellowstone Lake

Star parties near Yellowstone Lake

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Wisconsin 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 Yellowstone Lake

Observatories within 100 km

• Pine Bluff ObservatoryCross Plains, Wisconsin, 43 km (27 mi), research observatory
• Washburn ObservatoryMadison, Wisconsin, 57 km (35 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Planetary Studies FoundationGalena, Illinois, 53 km (33 mi)
• Iowa County AstronomersLone Rock, Wisconsin, 55 km (34 mi)
• Madison Astronomical SocietyMadison, Wisconsin, 58 km (36 mi). Meets Monthly meeting at Vel Phillips Memorial High School, west Madison (from June 2026)
• Starsplitters of WyalusingPrairie du Chien, Wisconsin, 98 km (61 mi)
• Quad Cities Astronomical SocietyDavenport, Iowa, 142 km (88 mi). Meets Sherman Park Observatory

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

Yellowstone Lake record

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