Denver, CO's night sky, measured from orbit

Denver reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 61.5% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Denver.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

Where to go for a darker sky near Denver

Aurora, CO, about 9 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Denver. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Aurora, CO is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.

How Denver compares nationally

Denver, CO has a population of about 729,019, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Denver places 1,962 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.