Colorado Stargazing Trail

The Colorado Tourism Office connects Hovenweep's dark skies with its ancestral Puebloan towers, dwellings, kivas and possible celestial alignments. The trail recommends the visitor-center parking lot and campground for night viewing and points visitors to spring and summer stargazing programs.[2]

National Park Service

The National Park Service states: “Stargazing and exploring the night sky is allowed from the visitor center parking lot and campground only.”[3]

NPS says park trails are open sunrise to sunset and that the structures are not visible from the permitted nighttime viewing areas. Rangers present astronomy programs in spring and summer when staffing and weather allow. NPS also places the sky in a cultural context, describing ancestral Puebloan skywatching and celestial alignments while emphasizing protection of both cultural resources and darkness.[3]

Sources

  1. [1]

    Photo: NPS/Jacob W. Frank — Hovenweep National Monument, Stargazing

  2. [2]

    Colorado Tourism Office, Colorado Stargazing Trail™ — colorado.com/colorado-stargazing-trail

  3. [3]

    National Park Service, Stargazing — nps.gov/hove/planyourvisit/stargazing.htm