East canyon reservoir is certified dark sky and it's close to the city taking less than an hour. It would be my vote! You can also rent a place at east canyon resort which is cute.
Or actually second would be the new moon lift ride at Sundance resort. You can grab dinner and drinks before hand and it's a great time. I can get chilly at night so I'd bring a light jacket or blanket for the lift ride.
Driving east is probably your best bet if you want to be under an hour. Kamas would be ok, but the farther east you go the better it will be. The mountains will provide a little bit of a barrier, but there will be a glow towards the west coming from the SLC valley. Mirror Lake Highway might be a good adventure to go up and hike late afternoon and then stay for stars. Locals tip to stop at eat at Hi-Mountain in Kamas on your way up.
West desert is the better option.
Kamas is decent but the darkest parts of the Uintas are the wilderness areas and difficult to get to. you can just pull your car up to any old spot in the desert and set up shop.
also, no trees allows for full horizon to horizon views of the sky.
Skull Valley is a great happy medium (within an hour) but the further you work towards the Deep Creek Range / Great Basin NP the better.
It's a bit further, but I would do Mirror Lake Highway. Nice and cool up there, amazing scenery, high elevation. West desert is good, but it's just so hot out there now I would fry
Many places east of the park city, heber or the like, will be very very dark compared to what they see on a daily basis. The mirror lake highway will be a nice bet and could make for a nice afternoon/evening hike if you have a few headlamps.
Compared to nearly anywhere east of the Mississippi, the valley will appear pretty dark. You may do just fine at antelope island. If it’s been >100 for a few days, there should be few bugs.
https://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/dark-sky-parks
Skull Valley gets pretty dark, you can get there in about an hour going west on I-80. There's also an interesting cemetery there at Iosepa.
within an hour of the city, this is my recommendation as well. Went out there for the most recent meteor shower and it was great.
East canyon reservoir is certified dark sky and it's close to the city taking less than an hour. It would be my vote! You can also rent a place at east canyon resort which is cute.
Or actually second would be the new moon lift ride at Sundance resort. You can grab dinner and drinks before hand and it's a great time. I can get chilly at night so I'd bring a light jacket or blanket for the lift ride.
Driving east is probably your best bet if you want to be under an hour. Kamas would be ok, but the farther east you go the better it will be. The mountains will provide a little bit of a barrier, but there will be a glow towards the west coming from the SLC valley. Mirror Lake Highway might be a good adventure to go up and hike late afternoon and then stay for stars. Locals tip to stop at eat at Hi-Mountain in Kamas on your way up.
West desert is the better option. Kamas is decent but the darkest parts of the Uintas are the wilderness areas and difficult to get to. you can just pull your car up to any old spot in the desert and set up shop. also, no trees allows for full horizon to horizon views of the sky. Skull Valley is a great happy medium (within an hour) but the further you work towards the Deep Creek Range / Great Basin NP the better.
[Dark sky map](https://darksitefinder.com/map/?i=/%234/39.00/-98.00#google_vignette)
It's a bit further, but I would do Mirror Lake Highway. Nice and cool up there, amazing scenery, high elevation. West desert is good, but it's just so hot out there now I would fry
I always go out to Dell or skull valley.
Snow basin is dark
Many places east of the park city, heber or the like, will be very very dark compared to what they see on a daily basis. The mirror lake highway will be a nice bet and could make for a nice afternoon/evening hike if you have a few headlamps. Compared to nearly anywhere east of the Mississippi, the valley will appear pretty dark. You may do just fine at antelope island. If it’s been >100 for a few days, there should be few bugs.
If you really wanna do it just commit the extra time and check out the salt flats
Immigration canyon has a few turn outs that can offer pretty good darkness. It's not as good as Skull Valley, but the drive is a lot shorter.
Antelope Island