Colorado’s high-altitude and geographically isolated landscapes make it one of the best places in the contiguous United States to view the Milky Way. Viewing the galaxy depends entirely on escaping light pollution. Cities along the Front Range, such as Denver and Colorado Springs, emit a skyglow that completely washes out the faint light of distant stars. By traveling to the state’s remote, western, and southern regions, where the air is thin and the population sparse, observers can find skies dark enough to reveal the galaxy’s structure.
Finding True Dark Skies in Colorado
Locating a truly dark sky requires significant distance from metropolitan areas. The key to successful viewing is to seek out locations that have actively protected their night skies from artificial light. Colorado has multiple designated International Dark Sky Places, which offer verified viewing conditions away from the urbanized Interstate 25 corridor.
The Wet Mountain Valley communities of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff were the first in Colorado to receive International Dark Sky Community status. Cradled between the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains, these high-elevation towns are naturally shielded from the light domes of Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Visitors can utilize the public Smokey Jack Observatory in Westcliffe for an enhanced experience.
National parks and monuments on the Western Slope and southern plains also offer exceptional darkness. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve are both certified International Dark Sky Parks. The Great Sand Dunes provide a unique viewing experience, with the massive sand formations reflecting the faint starlight. These remote areas require a drive of several hours from the Front Range, but they reward observers with Gold-tier skies.
Best Time to View the Milky Way Core
While the fainter, outer arms of the Milky Way are visible year-round, the spectacular Galactic Core is only visible during a specific season in the Northern Hemisphere. This “Milky Way season” typically runs from late spring through early autumn, approximately from March or April to October. The core is the dramatic, dusty central bulge of our galaxy.
The optimal time of night to see the core changes as the season progresses. In the late spring, the core is low on the horizon and only rises high enough for viewing in the pre-dawn hours. As summer arrives, the core becomes visible earlier, dominating the southern sky during the middle of the night, typically between midnight and 3:00 AM. By early autumn, the core is already visible in the evening sky shortly after full darkness, but it sets earlier in the night.
The single most important factor for maximizing visibility is the lunar cycle. Moonlight is a form of natural light pollution that can easily overwhelm the faint glow of the galaxy. Plan your viewing trip to coincide with the new moon phase, when the moon is not visible. A window of about four nights before and four nights after the new moon offers the darkest conditions possible.
Maximizing Your Naked-Eye Viewing
Setting accurate expectations is important, as the Milky Way will not appear to the naked eye as it does in long-exposure photographs. Since the human eye does not perceive color in low light, the galaxy will appear as a luminous, cloudy band of white or gray light arching across the sky. This faint, cloud-like structure is the combined light of billions of distant stars too far away to distinguish individually.
To achieve maximum visual acuity, observers must allow their eyes to become fully dark-adapted, a process that takes at least 20 minutes. During this time, the eye produces rhodopsin, which is necessary for optimal night vision. Exposure to any bright white light will instantly destroy the rhodopsin, requiring the adaptation process to begin again.
Utilizing a dim red light is the recommended way to move around or check maps without ruining your night vision. The deep red wavelength does not trigger the decay of rhodopsin, thus preserving your eyes’ sensitivity to the dark. A pair of standard binoculars can dramatically enhance the experience by resolving some of the galaxy’s nebulosity and revealing star clusters that remain invisible to the unaided eye.