The Best RV Campgrounds Near Dark Sky Destinations

The centrally located Cape Point Campground, just a stone’s throw from the striking Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, is the best place to enjoy the starry scenery.

This Canadian national park is located in the IDA’s first International Dark Sky Reserve. Low light pollution, mountain landscapes, and meandering forests are the perfect recipe.

Stay at the Baie-des-Sables campsite, a campground with comfortable amenities and plenty of attractions, located just 30 minutes from the park’s entrance.

Minnesota’s 1 million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness gained dark-sky certification from the International Dark Sky Association in August, 2020. It’s now the largest dark-sky sanctuary in the world.

The Canoe Country Outfitters Campground, located near the eastern Boundary Waters gateway, is packed with RV amenities, making it the perfect home base for those cosmos-and-canoe adventures.

Visit Great Sand Dunes National Park, where “half the park is after dark.” This IDA-certified dark-sky park blends Earth and sky for a truly humbling experience.

Great Sand Dunes Oasis campground is conveniently located the gateway to the park, so RV travelers can enjoy the best (stargazing) seat in the house.

The 90,000-acre preserve’s best viewpoints are open 24 hours per day, with pull-off overlooks to take in the starry skies all night.

While no campsites currently exist within Valles Caldera National Preserve, the nearby Jemez Falls Campground offers overnight RV spots. It’s a 12-minute drive from the preserve entrance.

To sleep under the stars in this IDA-certified park, head to Rio Grande Village RV Park, where epic desert scenery awaits.

This southwest Texas gem is as remote as it gets, with 800,000 acres of unspoiled river canyons and mountain-ringed desert and has the least light pollution of any national park in the lower 48.

The Dark Sky RV Campground was built for RVers, by RVers, with a focus on pristine wilderness. Here, guests can gaze across southern Utah’s otherworldly desert vistas like the Red Cliffs and Kaibab Plateau.

While the digs are modest—as they are across all Joshua Tree park campsites—the unobstructed views are well worth the stay at this RV-friendly campground. Note that RVs need to be under 35 feet and there are no hookups.

The cosmos brilliantly shimmers above this IDA-certified dark-sky park, where stargazers travel far and wide to view everything from meteor showers to the planets.

This IDA-certified dark-sky park promises peak stargazing conditions: dry, remote desert and virtually no light pollution overhead.

The Furnace Creek Campground, the area’s only National Park Service campground with hookup sites, sits in the heart of it all.

It’s truly hard to beat camping near Waterton—especially at the park’s closest and most RV-friendly campsite, the Townsite Campground.