Star-gazing spots in/around Vancouver, BC? (camp, airport, pollution)

[theootz]

Hello everyone,

I've recently made a trip to Vancouver and a friend of mine had an idea to go out and just watch the stars one night. However, like any other big city there is far too much light pollution to really see anything too well. So, I was wondering if anyone knew any good spots relatively near-by to the city. I'll only be here until about the beginning of September, so I know this post is quite short-notice but just giving it a shot anyways.

I don't think we'd be doing like a 5 or 6 hour drive just for this, but I can understand if we'd have to go a bit of a ways to see anything.

I was thinking if it might be possible to go up one of the mountains to do this? We've been up Grouse already, but it seems all transportation up and down closes at around 7pm there. It'd be nice if there was some place we could drive up to watch from, but I'm not sure if elevation helps against the light pollution or not without going to extremes.

Anyways, the idea is to drive out to wherever, perhaps take food along, and just lay back and watch the sky for a while... Would prefer, if possible, not to go on any very long hikes or have to go out to camp out someplace as I didn't bring any equipment or even proper attire to do such.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[brokendolly]

There's a dark sky park close to Abbotsford. And this
link is wonderful for checking out cloud cover and such.

[theootz]

Thanks for the quick reply. That cloud-cover link is great!

I looked up the park and from what I've read here ( Dark-Sky Site Directory: British Columbia ) it seems that I would need to have a member of the FVAS with me as well as they close the gates at night? Unless the gates only pertain to vehicles and we're able to still go there by foot? Any clarification would be great.

I was also wondering if anyone knew something a bit closer-by. It doesn't have to be perfect - just somewhere we can drive up to and get a nice view.

Thanks again.

[j_k_k]

It's well outside your local area, but if you ever have an excuse to come down to Washington, just off I-82 above Ellensburg is a fantastic night-time viewpoint up on a ridge. And it's often clear out, because Ellensburg is pretty much on the east side of the mountains. One time my wife and I took the truck up there and just laid on a blanket in the truck's bed staring up at the sky on a moonless night. Entrancing.

[brokendolly]

The gate does close but that only means that you can't drive down to the site which isn't that far from the gate. It was pretty buggy when we last went so take some mosquito repellent! Thank you Cornerguy1 for fixing the link.

We've been thinking of going up to the picnic area at Cypress Mountain to star gaze but I'm a little freaked out about possible bear encounters so we're saving that for winter. There is still some light pollution but it is certainly closer than the dark skies park in Abbotsford. We haven't been out to the Boundary Bay site, but again you are looking at about a 45 minute drive.

I hope your visit is wonderful and the skies remain clear!

[Robynator]

You don't have to go very far to get excellent star-gazing skies in Vancouver. The issue is cloud cover. I'm a bit of an amateur astronomer, and there are 3 places which are reliable:

1. Garry Point Park in Steveston. It's the extreme south-west corner of Richmond where the Fraser River opens up in to the Strait of Georgia. If you walk into the park (which is a relatively flat peninsula of grasses and wildflowers), it gets darker by the second as there are no lights in the park itself, and of course, being on the edge of what's essentially the ocean, facing away from the city, means panoramic darkness. A lot of people come here to stargaze, especially when the Perseids can be seen.

2. Boundary Bay Airport (the road that leads up to it) in Delta. It's surrounded by farmers fields (no lights) and you're close to Boundary Bay (no lights) so the light pollution feels almost non-existant. I came here with some serious amateur astronomers with their fancy computer equipment and massive telescope.

3. Whytecliff Park, West Vancouver. This is just west of Horseshoe Bay by about 10 minutes or so. A very small but beautiful park located on the western edge of a peninsula, facing out over the Strait of Georgia, Bowen Island, and Howe Sound. Again, by being on the water surrounded by mountain vistas on the other side of a mountain from Vancouver means you really have no sense of light pollution.

I'd recommend Garry Point and Whytecliff.