Northeast Missouri Park is First-Ever Dark Sky Location in State

If you really want to see the night sky at its best, you need to be in a dark sky location which means getting away from the lights of the city. Previously, no place in Missouri had that designation - until now as one park has just received that night sky honor.

This good news comes today from MSN which just said that Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville is now officially a "Dark Sky Location". It's not easy to get this recognition from the Dark Sky International organization. There are only 220 parks in the world that earn this honor. For a park to become an official dark sky place, there has to be an executed plan for managing light pollution which is harder than it sounds.

My wife (the smart one in our relationship) is a stargazing nerd and has a telescope which I kindly position for her outside when she wants a picture of a nebula (or something like that). I can tell you that finding a place where the street lights don't make that difficult is a challenge. That's why I appreciate that Missouri FINALLY has a dark sky place.

If you're willing to road trip to Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville, you are guaranteed the best stargazing in the state of Missouri according to the experts.