What the night sky looks like over McHenry, IL

McHenry reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. McHenry's sky is brighter than 22.5% of the 3,206 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near McHenry

Fox Lake, IL, about 8 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than McHenry. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

McHenry against the rest of the dataset

McHenry, IL has a population of about 28,825, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, McHenry ranks 719 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.