Willis Observatory.

Public observatory · Bakersville, North Carolina

Willis Observatory

Willis Observatory is a public observatory in Bakersville, North Carolina. It is open to the public. Willis Observatory is about 11 km (7 mi) from Mayland Earth to Sky Dark Sky Park, a Bortle Class 4 dark sky place.

Willis Observatory in brief

Open to the public
Yes
Bortle class
Not yet rated

Official site

Can you visit Willis Observatory? Yes

Stargazing visits with large refractor and 12-inch telescope, by arrangement; Airbnb lodging on site.

A public night at an observatory usually starts at dusk with a short talk, then a line at the eyepiece of the main telescope for the Moon, a planet or a bright cluster, with volunteers' smaller telescopes set up outside. Dress for the night air even in summer: domes are not heated, so the telescope stays at outside temperature. Many nights sell out or cancel for clouds, so check the observatory's site on the day.

Willis Observatory
Willis Observatory

What Willis Observatory observes

The list does not describe the instruments at Willis Observatory yet; the official site has them.

How dark the sky is at Willis Observatory

Willis Observatory has no Bortle rating in the list yet. The scale below shows what each class looks like.

1 mag 8.0 21.99+ 2 mag 7.5 21.89+ 3 mag 7.0 21.69+ 4 mag 6.5 20.49+ 5 mag 6.0 19.50+ 6 mag 5.5 18.94+ 7 mag 5.0 18.38+ 8 mag 4.5 18.00+ 9 mag 4.0
The Bortle scale. Each panel shows the class number, the faintest star the naked eye reaches at the zenith, and the darkest-edge sky brightness reading of that class in mag/arcsec².

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, at the coordinates below. Research telescopes are often sited on mountains above the haze, so the real sky can be darker than the map suggests.

Willis Observatory among the observatories of North Carolina

Graveyard Fields Hominy Valley County Park Linville Gorge Wilderness Mayland Earth to Sky Dark Sky Park Nantahala National Forest New River State Park Oak Island Beach Town Ocracoke Campground Pettigrew State Park Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute Observatory Croatan National Forest Uwharrie National Forest Cape Hatteras National Seashore Cape Lookout National Seashore Dark Sky Park Squirrel Valley Observatory Williams Observatory Lucile Miller Observatory Three College Observatory Dark Sky Observatory Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute Willis Observatory Bakersville, North Carolina Willis Observatory Bakersville, North Carolina
Dark sky place Research or private observatory Observatory open to the public

Green dots are observatories open to the public, blue dots research or private sites, squares dark sky places; select one for its page. See North Carolina observatories for the full list.

The coordinates on this page point to zip 28705 (approximate): 36.029°N, 82.171°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Mountain observatory roads are often gated after dark; go only on a scheduled public night.

Dark sky places, observatories and clubs near Willis Observatory

Willis Observatory is about 11 km (7 mi) from Mayland Earth to Sky Dark Sky Park, a Bortle Class 4 dark sky place. See Mayland Earth to Sky Dark Sky Park for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.

Nearest dark sky places

PlaceWhereBortleDistance
Mayland Earth to Sky Dark Sky ParkNorth Carolina411 km (7 mi)
Linville Gorge WildernessNorth Carolina428 km (17 mi)
Cherokee National ForestTennessee451 km (32 mi)
Cherokee National ForestTennessee451 km (32 mi)
Hominy Valley County ParkNorth Carolina471 km (44 mi)
Grayson Highlands State ParkVirginia389 km (55 mi)

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

  • Dark Sky ObservatoryPurlear, North Carolina, 50 km (31 mi). Monthly ticketed Saturday evening events (about 8:30-10:30 pm), buy online in advance; no visits outside these events
  • Williams ObservatoryBoiling Springs, North Carolina, 98 km (61 mi). Monthly community open houses and public viewing with Cleveland County Astronomical Society
  • Lucile Miller ObservatoryMaiden, North Carolina, 101 km (62 mi). Catawba Valley Astronomy Club observatory; periodic public nights and library STEAM programs
  • Pisgah Astronomical Research InstituteRosman, North Carolina, 109 km (68 mi). Public star gazes and solar observing with the Astronomy Club of Asheville (e.g. Apr 2025); daytime tours; Wednesdays at PARI program
  • Charles E. Daniel ObservatoryGreenville, South Carolina, 130 km (81 mi). Starry Nights public viewing on Friday nights through the historic 23-inch refractor; check Roper Mountain calendar

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

Star parties near Willis Observatory

Star partyNearDistanceUsual timing
Green Bank Star QuestGreen Bank, West Virginia339 km (210 mi)Summer
Almost Heaven Star PartyRiverton, West Virginia378 km (235 mi)New-moon weekend in August
Shenandoah Night Sky FestivalLuray, Virginia432 km (268 mi)Late summer
Midsouth StargazeFrench Camp, Mississippi727 km (452 mi)Spring

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in North Carolina 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.

Willis Observatory record

Every value in the observatories dataset for Willis Observatory
ID410
NameWillis Observatory
Address1456 Bear Creek Rd
CityBakersville
StateNC
Zip28705
CountryUSA
Webhttps://willisobservatory.squarespace.com
Publicy
Lat36.02860
Lon-82.17110
LatLonSpotzip 28705 (approximate)
StatusActive
StatusNotePrivate public-outreach observatory near Bakersville/Spruce Pine; current schedule not confirmed
PublicNoteStargazing visits with large refractor and 12-inch telescope, by arrangement; Airbnb lodging on site
Sourceshttps://willisobservatory.squarespace.com; https://ncclayclub.blogspot.com/2021/06/free-admission-to-willis-observatory.html
ParkID459
ParkKm11.

From the site's observatories dataset (observatories_q426). Distances are computed from the coordinates.