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Hyperion7
member
Reged: 09/29/08
Posts: 25
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Preferably ones with open skies. and preferably ones that are state parks where reservations can be made a week or so before going. Also I'd really prefer ones that are upwards of 7th magnitutde.
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Stingray
member
Reged: 09/18/08
Posts: 16
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Stone Mt State Park is not bad. I went to a public star party a couple of months ago. It was dark, but I don't know what scale. They have a bif field next to the camp site.
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1_old_dog
sage
Reged: 09/07/07
Posts: 357
Loc: Smoky Mnts
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Howdy
This past spring we went to Franklin NC to do some gem hunting and we camped at Rose Creek Campground. It's a private campground not a state park but there are many campsites in the area, so you might want to check the area out.
You don't mention what type of camping you're doing, tent, trailer, camper, RV?
We pull a small trailer with our Jeep and this place is way up in the hills. It's quiet, clean and very dark and it has a huge open field with lots of open sky in the center of the campground.
OD
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http://chu65nang67.us/nam/vietnam.html
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Dakota Tobias
member
Reged: 02/17/05
Posts: 84
Loc: Central PA
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Spruce Knob and/or the Mountain Institute in WV, it doesn't get much darker than that on the East coast...
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Dakota Tobias
Discovery 12.5" PDHQ
Orion XT 4.5" Dob
35mm Scopos Extreme
13mm ETHOS
8mm TMB Planetary
7mm Pentax XL
Small herd of plossls
Lumicon OIII filter
Sky Spot finder charts
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Hyperion7
member
Reged: 09/29/08
Posts: 25
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ill be tent camping. i have a trailer, but will be tent camping.
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Mitchell M.
member
Reged: 01/14/08
Posts: 80
Loc: Mountains of Western NC
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Iffen you're thinking about western NC you can hit Pisgah National Forest. Plenty of camp sites.
The parking lot for Mt. Pisgah is where the star party I attend meets. The sky clock is in my sig.
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Meade 8" LX90GPS
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Dakota Tobias
member
Reged: 02/17/05
Posts: 84
Loc: Central PA
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Quote:
ill be tent camping. i have a trailer, but will be tent camping.
Spruce Knob has some sites, if it's feasible, try to reserve the Gatewood campsite - a favorite of the guys from NOVAC. This is the darkest site I've ever been to in the Northeast. Oh yeah, and great horizons too!
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/sp/spruce_knob.html
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Dakota Tobias
Discovery 12.5" PDHQ
Orion XT 4.5" Dob
35mm Scopos Extreme
13mm ETHOS
8mm TMB Planetary
7mm Pentax XL
Small herd of plossls
Lumicon OIII filter
Sky Spot finder charts
Edited by Dakota Tobias (10/13/08 11:21 PM)
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ChipBee
journeyman
Reged: 09/08/08
Posts: 5
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We love to travel and observe, I know it’s the same sky but for some reason there is something about each place you setup that makes the view just a little different. In one year we have setup in 15 different locations (NC-7, VA-3, WV-1, TX-3, and PA-1) and look forward to many more in the year to come!
The Forsyth Astronomical Society - http://www.forsythastronomicalsociety.org/ will be at Stone Mt State Park on Oct 25 for a public viewing. If weather is good my partner and I will be there, and camp overnight, we had a great time the last two times the club was there. There are limited camping spaces around a small open field; the good thing is most campers want total wooded sites so these tend not to be used. Bring a large garbage bag and rope to cover a manhole cover in the middle of the field (BAD SMELLS!). As to the sky – great for a public star viewing but for DSO’s etc. so much better than my backyard I’d say typical naked-eye magnitude limit on a clear, moonless night at the zenith: 6.5+.
Not far from there is Doughton Park at mile marker 241 on Blue Ridge Parkway in NC. it has camping but closes soon, view area in about 3 miles from camping. See http://www.observingsites.com/ds_nc.htm#laurel for more information.
Best area – WV – Green Bank star party in late June!
Best in VA. - Big Meadows (Dark, Open, and Bears! (Ha!))
Good site to find viewing stops! - http://www.observingsites.com/index.html
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6290
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
ill be tent camping. i have a trailer, but will be tent camping.
Spruce Knob has some sites, if it's feasible, try to reserve the Gatewood campsite - a favorite of the guys from NOVAC. This is the darkest site I've ever been to in the Northeast. Oh yeah, and great horizons too!
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/sp/spruce_knob.html
I observed from Gatewood in 2005 and the horizons were not so great. Has someone topped the trees recently?
Other drawbacks were the small size of the camping area and the fact that equipment had to be carried to the clearing.
I've been to the Mountain Institute but haven't observed from that location. It seemed to be a better site to me than Gatewood or the summit of Spruce Knob.
http://www.mountain.org/work/skmc/index.cfm
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Hyperion7
member
Reged: 09/29/08
Posts: 25
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Thanks guys. I observe in Creswell NC, in the winter, but I cant observe there in the summer. I also observe in Coinjock NC, but once again not in the summer. Im looking for a good summer spot.
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epee
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/30/06
Posts: 582
Loc: Suh-van-nuh, Jaw-juh
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Try using the light pollution overlay for Google Earth and then check the detail for campgrounds.
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Jim Girardeau
Orion XT12 Intelliscope
Celestron 11X80mm binoculars
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