Grand Canyon Officially Recognized As International Dark Sky Park

By Kathy Ritchie
Published: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 11:47am
Updated: Thursday, June 20, 2019 - 3:25pm

Grand Canyon at night
National Park Service
The Grand Canyon at night.

The National Park Service has announced that the Grand Canyon National Park has officially received its International Dark Sky Park certification

The Grand Canyon received its provisional status three years ago. Since then, the park has been working to meet the requirements that were set forth, specifically to retrofit 67 percent of the 5,000 exterior light fixtures.

The park hopes to make 90 percent of the lights dark-sky compliant in the coming years.

The designation comes ahead of the Grand Canyon’s annual Star Party on June 22.

There are about a dozen parks and communities in Arizona that have earned the Dark Sky certification.

Science