Sunset & Stargazing at Cedar Breaks

Sunset times and dark-sky nights

Sunset moves by more than an hour and a half across the road season, and the moon decides whether you see the Milky Way. Both are computed here for the rim; no other Cedar Breaks guide gives you the parking time and the dark-moon tour nights in one place.

Stargazing at the Dark Sky Park

Cedar Breaks earned its International Dark Sky Park designation in 2017 because the sky here is genuinely dark: 10,000 feet up, far from any city, on a plateau with no light pollution in any direction. On a clear, moonless summer night the Milky Way is a bright band across the entire sky, satellites cross it every few minutes, and the August Perseids fall into it.

The rangers run free Night Sky Tours every Friday and Saturday, June through September, from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., at Point Supreme Overlook. A short talk, then telescopes on planets, star clusters and nebulae. No reservation; the $25 vehicle entry covers it. The park also hosts a Southwest Astronomy Festival in September and, in a good winter, occasional snowshoe star walks. Dates are on the NPS Night Sky Tours page and in the live strip at the top of this page.

You do not need a program. The road through the monument stays open all night in season, so you can park at any overlook and look up. Give your eyes 20 to 40 minutes with no white light, including your phone. A red-light headlamp is the single most useful thing you can bring. Point Supreme has the most room to spread out; North View is the quietest.

What to bring

• Winter clothes, in July. Rim temperatures fall to the 30s and 40s on summer nights and the wind makes it feel colder. Coat, hat, gloves, long pants, closed shoes. The park says it plainly: dress for incredibly cold summer nights.
• A red-light headlamp. White light resets everyone's night vision. Red does not. Cover a normal flashlight with red tape if you have to.
• Something to sit or lie on. The overlooks are rock and gravel. A camp chair or a blanket makes the difference between twenty minutes and two hours.
• A tripod if you want the Milky Way. Phone night modes at this elevation capture more than you would expect, and a tripod is what makes them work.
• A thermos. Hot coffee or cocoa. You will stay longer.
• Binoculars. Ordinary 8x or 10x binoculars show the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way star clouds from this sky, no telescope needed.

Tips from Duck Creek

• Make it a two-stop evening. Sunset at Sunset View, then drive the mile back to Point Supreme for the Night Sky Tour. Bigger lot, restrooms, and the telescopes.
• Pick a dark-moon night. A full moon lights the amphitheater beautifully but washes out the Milky Way. The list below marks the tour nights when the moon is a quarter lit or less.
• Check the sky at the rim, not the valley. Afternoon storms over the plateau usually clear by dusk in July and August, but not always. If it is raining at 5 p.m., our weather page and the Highway 14 cameras will tell you whether to bother.
• Eat first. There is no food in the monument. Dinner in the village, then drive up; you are back by eleven.
• Do the flowers or a trail in the morning and come back for the evening. One entry fee covers seven days, and the meadows and the Alpine Pond loop are better before noon anyway.
• Winter counts too. The road closes, but the sky does not. On a calm winter night the snowmobile route in from the Highway 14 lot puts you under the darkest sky of the year; see the winter guide.

Stay planning

A sunset and stargazing evening at Cedar Breaks is the natural end to a park day at Bryce Canyon or Zion. Use Plan Your Days to build the itinerary and compare our rooms and cabins. The drive home after the telescopes is 25 minutes on a road you will have almost to yourself; our stargazing stays page has the details.