Colton, CA Night Sky Brightness
What the night sky looks like over Colton, CA
Satellite radiance puts Colton in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 74.6% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.
The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class - the Bortle scale guide covers why.
Where to go for a darker sky near Colton
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Loma Linda, CA, roughly 5 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.
Loma Linda, CA is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
Colton against the rest of the dataset
Colton, CA has a population of about 53,528, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Colton ranks 2,378 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured, by the sampling the methodology guide documents.