Naturita

Naturita is a small town in western Colorado that, together with neighbouring Nucla, was jointly designated an International Dark Sky Community by DarkSky International.

Why Naturita is a top stargazing spot

The designation came after an 18-month nomination process led by the West End Dark Sky Alliance, a group formed in 2016 with the mission of preserving the region's dark skies and reducing light pollution. Naturita and Nucla sit in a lightly populated corner of Montrose and San Miguel counties, an area known locally as the West End, surrounded by red-rock canyon country with a history of uranium and copper mining dating back to a boom in the early 1900s. The Alliance continues to host community events and fundraisers to promote dark sky awareness, and the joint recognition is part of a wider push in the region that has floated a future landscape-scale Western Slope International Dark Sky Reserve.

What you can see

The darkest skies are found in the canyonlands just west of town, along Highway 141 in either direction, where conditions can reach Bortle Class 1, the darkest rating on the scale; a genuinely pristine sky is generally defined as 22 magnitudes per square arcsecond or higher on a sky quality meter, and readings in this stretch of the West End approach that benchmark.

Visiting Naturita at night

As with any small dark-sky community, protection here comes from town-wide lighting practices rather than a single official viewing site, so head out along Highway 141 for the darkest conditions. The Visitor Center on Highway 141 in Naturita has information on regional travel, local history and outdoor recreation, including camping, fishing, hiking, hunting and mountain biking in the surrounding red-rock landscape, and the Nucla-Naturita Area Chamber of Commerce can help with local questions (closed Sundays and Mondays). Check the West End Dark Sky Alliance or local county pages before you travel for current guidance or events.

Best time to go

Naturita sits in the northern hemisphere at a fairly high, dry elevation, so the Milky Way's core is well placed roughly March to September, arcing over the canyon country on clear summer nights, while winter brings sharp views of Orion and the other bright winter constellations. The Perseids in August suit the warm-season Milky Way well, and the Geminids in December and Quadrantids in January are worth a cold, clear night in the canyons. Basic stargazing tips apply everywhere: plan around the new Moon, allow your eyes twenty to thirty minutes to adapt to the dark, and use a red light instead of white to protect your night vision.

Getting there

Naturita sits on Highway 141 in Montrose County, in the West End of Colorado's southern Western Slope, close to neighbouring Nucla. The darkest canyon views are along Highway 141 heading out of town in either direction, and the local Visitor Center is a good first stop for directions and current conditions.

See your named star from here

A designated dark-sky community like Naturita keeps light pollution low enough that a star named through star-register.eu is far easier to pick out than it would be from a typical town. Bring your certificate's coordinates and a stargazing app on a clear night along Highway 141 to find it. Browse our star catalogue or see our naming packages, and check the observatories directory for other certified dark-sky sites.