American Alps — glaciated peaks under Bortle 2 sky.
Updated:
· Tonight: Friday, August 14, 2026
📍 Northern WA🌑 Bortle 2🚗 About 2.5–3 hours northeast of Seattle via Highway 20 (the North Cascades Highway).
About North Cascades
North Cascades National Park protects some of the wildest, least-visited mountain terrain in the Lower 48, and the park's own materials describe an evening here as 'utter darkness punctuated by countless points of light.' It's rugged and remote enough that light pollution simply isn't a factor.
What you can see in the sky
Milky Way over jagged peaks, with occasional ranger-led night-sky photography events near Diablo Lake and Artist Point.
Best time of year
Summer through early fall, when Highway 20 is open (it closes seasonally due to snow) and skies are driest.
Why this site is worth the drive
Among the darkest national parks in Washington state
Highway 20 pullouts like Diablo Lake overlook give easy roadside access to dark sky
Occasional ranger and partner astrophotography workshops
Practical tips for North Cascades
Highway 20 closes with the first heavy snow, typically late fall through spring — check road status
Mountain nights are cold year-round; pack layers
Cell service is minimal to nonexistent through most of the park
Live 48-hour forecast
Tonight's verdict above is a build-time snapshot. For the full
hourly view — cloud cover, transparency, seeing, smoke, humidity,
moon altitude and a Bortle-aware tonight score by observing mode
(visual, deep-sky, planetary, astrophoto) — open the live forecast:
The live page combines Open-Meteo weather, US-AQI wildfire smoke,
moon math and Bortle-scale darkness into a single tonight score
(0–100), updated continuously.
Frequently asked questions
Is North Cascades good for stargazing tonight?
Tonight's verdict is Excellent (High confidence). 7h of clear sky (≤30% cloud) during tonight's astronomical night, mean cloud 11%.
When is the best time of year to stargaze at North Cascades?
Summer through early fall, when Highway 20 is open (it closes seasonally due to snow) and skies are driest.
How long is the drive from Toronto?
About 2.5–3 hours northeast of Seattle via Highway 20 (the North Cascades Highway).
What can I see in the sky here?
Milky Way over jagged peaks, with occasional ranger-led night-sky photography events near Diablo Lake and Artist Point.
How dark is the sky? (Bortle scale)
North Cascades sits at Bortle class 2 on the 1–9 dark-sky scale, where 1 is a pristine wilderness sky and 9 is an inner-city sky.