Plan this sky
Save the place, open the map, or continue into a stay once the route is worth it.
- Best use
- Milky Way, meteor showers, and deep-sky viewing
- Planning signal
- Dark-window target
- Route context
- No nearby Stella stay in the current catalog
Certified dark-sky park
Middle Fork River Forest Preserve
IL, United States · Rural sky skies · certified November 25, 2018
About this place
- Overview
- DarkSky certified place · Parks · Certified November 25, 2018
- Region
- IL, United States
Designation & sky
- Type
- Dark-Sky Park
- Designation
- Parks
- Certified
- November 25, 2018
- Sky quality
- Bortle 3 · Rural sky
- Status
- Certified
Official links
Verify hours, access, and current conditions before you go.
Next steps
Build the trip around this sky.
Jump to astronomy stays, eclipse paths, and observing guides while keeping this place in context.
Dark-sky mapFind protected places
Browse parks, reserves, communities, observatories, and planetariums by darkness and region.
Open routeEclipse travelCompare eclipse pathsUse the 2024-2035 catalog to pair path timing with nearby dark-sky stays.
Open routeStargazing staysSleep near the skyExplore observatory hotels, aurora lodges, astrofarms, and dark-sky resorts.
Open routeTonight guideKnow what to look forStart with the practical guide, then use Stella for the exact window where you are.
Open routeStargazing near nearby cities
Use city guides to compare drive time, nearby stays, and darker alternatives around this place.
- 167 km · ~2 hr 54 min drive*Stargazing near Indianapolis, IndianaOpen city guide →
- 168 km · ~2 hr 55 min drive*Stargazing near Chicago, IllinoisOpen city guide →
- 274 km · ~4 hr 45 min drive*Stargazing near St. Louis, MissouriOpen city guide →
- 295 km · ~5 hr 7 min drive*Stargazing near Milwaukee, WisconsinOpen city guide →
On the map
More dark-sky places
Keep exploring protected skies like this one.
- Dark-Sky Park · MT, United States · Bortle 1Absaroka-Beartooth WildernessView →
- Dark-Sky Park · MT, United States · Bortle 1Bob Marshall WildernessView →
- Dark-Sky Park · MN, United States · Bortle 1Boundary Waters Canoe Area WildernessView →
- Dark-Sky Park · ID, United States · Bortle 1Central Idaho Dark Sky ReserveView →
- Dark-Sky Park · NM, United States · Bortle 1Cosmic CampgroundView →
- Dark-Sky Park · AK, United States · Bortle 1Denali National ParkView →