The darkest skies in the US Southwest, ranked by data
This ranking is not opinion: every spot was scored from NASA Black Marble satellite radiance, a skyglow model calibrated on reference dark-sky sites, and ten years of cloud climatology — full methodology here. Scores cap at 94: we don't rate a sky darker than our darkest ground-truth anchor.
Top 25 overall
| # | Spot | State | Sky Score | Darkness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabeza Prieta Wilderness | Arizona | 75/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 2 | Queer Mountain Wilderness Study Area | Nevada | 73/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 3 | Death Valley National Park | Nevada | 73/100 | 93/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 4 | Kofa Wilderness | Arizona | 73/100 | 92/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 5 | KOFA Pronghorn Protected Area | Arizona | 73/100 | 92/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 6 | Grapevine Mountains Wilderness Study Area | Nevada | 72/100 | 93/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 7 | Trigo Mountain Wilderness | Arizona | 72/100 | 89/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 8 | Rawhide Mountains Wilderness | Arizona | 72/100 | 92/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 9 | Pigeon Spring Wilderness Study Area | Nevada | 71/100 | 93/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 10 | Harcuvar Mountains Wilderness | Arizona | 71/100 | 91/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 11 | Tres Alamos Wilderness | Arizona | 70/100 | 90/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 12 | Animal Highways | Texas | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 13 | amazing view | New Mexico | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 14 | Rio Grande Overlook | Texas | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 15 | Grand Canyon | Arizona | 70/100 | 92/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 16 | South Rim Viewpoint | Texas | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 17 | Swansea Wilderness | Arizona | 70/100 | 89/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 18 | LM Peak | Texas | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 19 | Mount Trumbull Wilderness | Arizona | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 20 | Queen City Summit panorama | Nevada | 70/100 | 93/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 21 | Deer Creek Falls Viewpoint | Arizona | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 22 | Harquahala Mountains Area of Critical Environmental Concern | Arizona | 70/100 | 90/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 23 | Eagletail Mountains Wilderness | Arizona | 70/100 | 89/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 24 | Jumbo Springs Wilderness | Nevada | 70/100 | 92/100 · ≈ B2 |
| 25 | Big Bend National Park | Texas | 70/100 | 94/100 · ≈ B2 |