What the night sky looks like over Zion, IL

Satellite radiance puts Zion in the suburban edge band. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Zion's sky is brighter than 32% 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 Zion

Beach Park, IL, about 2 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Zion. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Zion against the rest of the dataset

Zion, IL has a population of about 24,583, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Zion ranks 1,022 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.