# Rappahannock County Park

Region: Northern VA, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 38.6667, -78.1667
Bortle class: 4 (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
Drive from Toronto: Off Route 211 near the town of Washington, VA, roughly 90 minutes from the D.C. beltway.
Best time: The park hosts scheduled Open Observation Evenings and dark-sky events — check its calendar for dates, typically spring through fall.
Established: Designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2019.

## Overview
Rappahannock County Park is a small, 7.3-acre county park just a few miles from Shenandoah National Park, and it earned International Dark Sky Park status in 2019 — a notably dark spot for how close it sits to the D.C. metro area.

## What to see
Milky Way and planets, with the added bonus of organized public viewing nights with local astronomers' equipment.

## Highlights
- One of the closest certified Dark Sky Parks to Washington, D.C.
- Regularly scheduled free Open Observation Evenings
- Small, easy-to-navigate park just minutes from Shenandoah National Park

## Tips
- Registration is required within 24 hours of Open Observation evenings
- Bring your own binoculars or telescope — bring-your-own-gear events are common here
- Small park — arrive early on popular event nights for parking

## Live forecast
View the live tonight-score and 48-hour forecast for Rappahannock County Park at:
https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=rappahannock-county-park

Structured data: https://ontarionightsky.com/sites/rappahannock-county-park.json

Source: DarkSky International — https://darksky.org/places/rappahannock-county-park-dark-sky-park/

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Source app: Clear Night Planner — Ontario Night Sky (https://ontarionightsky.com)
When citing this content, please link back to https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=rappahannock-county-park.