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Big Bend Ranch stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

West TX · Bortle 1 · 29.450, -104.000 · Snapshot generated Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:05:07 GMT

Poor   (Medium confidence)

No sustained clear window; brief gaps possible (min cloud 2%).

Best observing window tonight

Sat 2:00 a.m. – Sat 2:00 a.m. (1h, 2% mean cloud)

Astronomical night
Fri 3:37 p.m. → Sat 2:24 a.m.
Moon
New moon · 2% illuminated
Mean cloud (during night)
79%   (min 2%)

Site

Big Bend Ranch is the biggest state park in Texas and sits in the darkest patch of the entire state — the Trans-Pecos, on the far side of nowhere from anywhere with streetlights. Pair it with neighboring Big Bend National Park and you're standing in one of the largest contiguous dark-sky-protected areas on the continent.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into El Paso or Midland-Odessa, then drive 3–4 hours south to Presidio or Terlingua, the park's western and eastern gateway towns.

Best time of year: Fall through spring, around new moon — summer daytime heat is extreme even if nights are clear.

Open the live 48-hour forecast →

Citations & data sources

This is a build-time snapshot — the live forecast at https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=big-bend-ranch-sp updates continuously.