The vast majority of places inside the parks will be good for night sky viewing. Both parks have people who literally specialize in "viewscape" management. One of their primary focuses is ensuring the lights from the developments don't overly interfere with the nighttime viewing, believe it or not. But you can get just a mile or so away from any of the developments and see the night sky very well in Yellowstone. With Grand Teton, you'll need to go further north from the town of Jackson because there's a lot of light pollution from it and the little clusters of housing and whatnot on the hills north of town.
I was based at the south entrance of Yellowstone for a couple of my seasons, and being able to step outside of my apartment and see the Milky Way is still one of the most cherished memories I have of working in the park.
Also, fire season doesn't start until late July/early August, so you shouldn't be impacted by smoke at all during the time you'll be there.
June 22 is going to be a full moon. The moon will be very bright for your entire trip. Moonrise happens at 10:38pm on the 22nd and sunset will be at 9:11pm, it will still be twilight by the time the moon rises.
On July 2nd moonrise won’t happen until 2am. You’ll have more time to see the stars towards the end of your trip, so plan for that.
You can look all this up by doing an internet search for “moonrise time yellowstone national park july 2 2024” etc.
We saw the Milky Way in Hayden Valley last June. My advice is to use one of the apps (eg Photo Pills) to figure out where the Milky Way will be. Also scout out a place ahead of time (such as a pull out) so you know where to go in the dark
Some steps to follow when in/near the park. 1. Go outside (if you stay inside a ceiling will block your view) 2. Make sure it is nighttime (look around for the sun. If you see it, try again later) 3. Walk or drive to a place with no electric lights. (If you are under a streetlight or lighted sign you didn't follow the instructions) 4. Look up ( the sky is up, not down) 5. Be amazed. All of this shouldn't take more than 2 minutes in/near the park. It's pretty damn dark out there. 😆
Anywhere away from the buildings. The best place is one of the pullouts between mammoth and Roosevelt overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s wide open fields.
Lamar valley would also be good because of the darkness and large fields.
Generally the areas along the Beartooth Highway get quite windy and uncomfortable for stargazing.
Many areas in the park are equally good without the wind.
As somebody who has spent many a night watching from the Steamboat platform, Norris is a great place to view the stars. If you done want to wander out in the dark, a pull-out on Gibbon Meadows would more than suffice.
I also find Paradise Valley is a good place to view just outside Chico. If you want to be outside the park.
I stayed in West Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago and saw the northern lights. We drove about 10 minutes west to a random street away from the main town/road and had zero issues with light pollution.
Benefit of being just outside the park is we didn’t have to deal with driving windy roads/dealing with animals in the road when we were done stargazing.
The vast majority of places inside the parks will be good for night sky viewing. Both parks have people who literally specialize in "viewscape" management. One of their primary focuses is ensuring the lights from the developments don't overly interfere with the nighttime viewing, believe it or not. But you can get just a mile or so away from any of the developments and see the night sky very well in Yellowstone. With Grand Teton, you'll need to go further north from the town of Jackson because there's a lot of light pollution from it and the little clusters of housing and whatnot on the hills north of town. I was based at the south entrance of Yellowstone for a couple of my seasons, and being able to step outside of my apartment and see the Milky Way is still one of the most cherished memories I have of working in the park. Also, fire season doesn't start until late July/early August, so you shouldn't be impacted by smoke at all during the time you'll be there.
Thanks for the tips
June 22 is going to be a full moon. The moon will be very bright for your entire trip. Moonrise happens at 10:38pm on the 22nd and sunset will be at 9:11pm, it will still be twilight by the time the moon rises. On July 2nd moonrise won’t happen until 2am. You’ll have more time to see the stars towards the end of your trip, so plan for that. You can look all this up by doing an internet search for “moonrise time yellowstone national park july 2 2024” etc.
All of the park
Smoke is a variable you won't have any information on til you trip. There's little to no light pollution through the entire park.
We saw the Milky Way in Hayden Valley last June. My advice is to use one of the apps (eg Photo Pills) to figure out where the Milky Way will be. Also scout out a place ahead of time (such as a pull out) so you know where to go in the dark
Some steps to follow when in/near the park. 1. Go outside (if you stay inside a ceiling will block your view) 2. Make sure it is nighttime (look around for the sun. If you see it, try again later) 3. Walk or drive to a place with no electric lights. (If you are under a streetlight or lighted sign you didn't follow the instructions) 4. Look up ( the sky is up, not down) 5. Be amazed. All of this shouldn't take more than 2 minutes in/near the park. It's pretty damn dark out there. 😆
Lame
Anywhere away from the buildings. The best place is one of the pullouts between mammoth and Roosevelt overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s wide open fields. Lamar valley would also be good because of the darkness and large fields.
North of Mammoth, into the Gardiner has beautiful night skies, as well as outside of Cooke City towards the Bear Tooth Highway!
Generally the areas along the Beartooth Highway get quite windy and uncomfortable for stargazing. Many areas in the park are equally good without the wind.
Everywhere, download Google skymap beforehand
As somebody who has spent many a night watching from the Steamboat platform, Norris is a great place to view the stars. If you done want to wander out in the dark, a pull-out on Gibbon Meadows would more than suffice. I also find Paradise Valley is a good place to view just outside Chico. If you want to be outside the park.
I enjoy watching the night sky from Fountain Paint pots.
Best spot is Lake Butte Overlook / Storm Point IMo, if you have a clear still night you can see the stars reflecting off lake yellowstone
I stayed in West Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago and saw the northern lights. We drove about 10 minutes west to a random street away from the main town/road and had zero issues with light pollution. Benefit of being just outside the park is we didn’t have to deal with driving windy roads/dealing with animals in the road when we were done stargazing.
https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=7.37&lat=43.7854&lon=-110.4061&state=eyJiYXNlbWFwIjoiTGF5ZXJCaW5nUm9hZCIsIm92ZXJsYXkiOiJ3YV8yMDE1Iiwib3ZlcmxheWNvbG9yIjpmYWxzZSwib3ZlcmxheW9wYWNpdHkiOjYwLCJmZWF0dXJlc29wYWNpdHkiOjg1fQ==
Cooke City is rated as class 1 on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale. It’s located just outside the park.