Gonzales, LA's night sky, measured from orbit

Gonzales reads as urban on this dataset's scale. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Only 91.1% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Gonzales.

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 Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA, about 20 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban band, one step darker than Gonzales. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Gonzales compares nationally

Gonzales, LA counts roughly 13,837 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Gonzales places 2,903 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.