Utah’s drive to encourage “astrotourism” got a recent boost as the International Dark Sky Association announced that it has awarded Jordanelle, Kodachrome Basin and Rockport state parks International Dark Sky Park status. Utah has more dark sky state parks than any other state park system. These parks bring the total of Utah Division of Parks and Recreation’s designated dark sky parks to eight and the aggregate of officially designated dark sky places in Utah to 21.
“People travel from across the country and around the world to revel in the starry splendor of Utah state parks' naturally dark night skies. They come to participate in programs such as full moon hikes, night sky snowshoeing, sunset-to- stars kayaking, scorpion safaris, owl prowls and star parties — or to simply camp under the awe-inspiring arc of the Milky Way,” the association said in a release.
Utah State Parks Director Jeff Rasmussen acknowledged the effort that has been put toward attaining these designations. “I have proudly supported our state park system’s contribution to Utah’s global leadership in the number of designated International Dark Sky Places,” he said. “Jordanelle, Rockport and Kodachrome Basin state parks’ staff, interns, volunteers and partners have worked tirelessly over the past five years to help these parks earn this international honor.”