Mt. Hood National Forest

How dark the sky is at Mt. Hood: Bortle Class 3, rural sky

The zenith sky here reads 21.87 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.1 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 Mt. Hood by season

At latitude 45.3°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 Mt. Hood 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 Mt. Hood

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Mt. Hood

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from Mt. Hood

• 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 Mt. Hood

The coordinates on this page point to Trillium Lake, at 1,098 m (3,600 ft): 45.267°N, 121.742°W.

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

Mt. Hood 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 Mt. Hood

The nearest town with motels or inns is Government Camp, 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 Mt. Hood

Star parties near Mt. Hood

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 Mt. Hood

Observatories within 100 km

• Haggart ObservatoryOregon City, Oregon, 65 km (41 mi), open to the public
• Goldendale Observatory State ParkGoldendale, Washington, 96 km (60 mi), research observatory

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Rose City AstronomersPortland, Oregon, 77 km (48 mi). Meets 3rd Monday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Nightsky-45 Astronomy ClubSalem, Oregon, 111 km (69 mi). Meets 2nd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm
• Friends of Galileo Astronomy ClubLongview, Washington, 137 km (85 mi)
• Eugene Astronomical SocietyEugene, Oregon, 171 km (106 mi). Meets Monthly, Thursday 7 pm

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

Mt. Hood record

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