Stargaze Atlas

Riverside, CA — light pollution & stargazing across the metro

California · Very poor — city glow · 54 towns · 3,523,754 people in this light dome

The Riverside, CA light dome covers 54 towns and about 3,523,754 people rated together, reading roughly Bortle 8 — a city sky (very poor — city glow) — at Riverside itself, measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights. The darkest edge of this same dome is Crestline, about 21 mi out, at roughly Bortle 5. The nearest certified dark-sky destination is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, about 75 mi away. Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser.

Stargazing at the Riverside core tonight

Light-pollution reading — dome core Riverside, CA · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class (core)
8 of 9

City sky.

VIIRS radiance (core)
66 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag. (core)
4.1–4.5
Darkest edge of this dome
Crestline · B5 · 21 mi

What you can see from the Riverside core

The sky is bright enough to read by. Only the Moon, the planets, and the few brightest stars and clusters are visible — the constellations lose most of their fainter stars.

At an estimated Bortle 8, the faintest stars visible from Riverside itself on a clear, moonless night run to about magnitude 4.1–4.5, and the Milky Way is not visible. Crestline is a regional drive away (21 mi) and improves to roughly Bortle 5.

Of the 54 towns rated in this dome, most read Bortle 7 (24 towns) — spread across 4 darkness classes overall. Beyond Riverside itself, Irvine, San Bernardino, Fontana round out the largest towns sharing this same light dome.

The sky from 34.0°N

Declination above +56.0° never sets here, and below −56.0° never rises — no matter how clear the night or how long you wait.

Geometric, from 33.953°N, 117.396°W. How these are computed.

Every town in this light dome, darkest first

All 54 towns inside Riverside's ~35-mile dome, each with its own measured reading.

Riverside metro towns, darkest sky first.
Town State Bortle Sky Radiance
Crestline CA 5 Suburban sky 5.0
Wildomar CA 5 Suburban sky 5.6
Lake Arrowhead CA 5 Suburban sky 5.6
Lakeland Village CA 5 Suburban sky 6.0
Coto De Caza CA 5 Suburban sky 6.1
Canyon Lake CA 6 Bright suburban sky 8.6
Mead Valley CA 6 Bright suburban sky 9.7
Valle Vista CA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Phelan CA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Turtle Rock CA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Muscoy CA 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Murrieta CA 6 Bright suburban sky 15
East Hemet CA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Woodcrest CA 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Laguna Niguel CA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Menifee CA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Jurupa Valley CA 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Ladera Ranch CA 6 Bright suburban sky 20
Norco CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Laguna Woods CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Lake Forest CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Mission Viejo CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Pedley CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Irvine CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Aliso Viejo CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Yucaipa CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Banning CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Eastvale CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Grand Terrace CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Highland CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Laguna Hills CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
San Juan Capistrano CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Hesperia CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Glen Avon CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Lake Elsinore CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Temecula CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Perris CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
San Jacinto CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Rubidoux CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Hemet CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Loma Linda CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 40
Home Gardens CA 7 Suburban / urban transition 40
Beaumont CA 8 City sky 41
Moreno Valley CA 8 City sky 41
Rancho Cucamonga CA 8 City sky 42
Fontana CA 8 City sky 47
Colton CA 8 City sky 48
Rancho Santa Margarita CA 8 City sky 49
Rialto CA 8 City sky 51
Corona CA 8 City sky 52
Bloomington CA 8 City sky 59
Riverside CA 8 City sky 66
Redlands CA 8 City sky 67
San Bernardino CA 8 City sky 89

Certified dark-sky destinations near Riverside

Certified International Dark Sky Places within reach of Riverside — nearest first.
PlaceDesignationDistance
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Dark Sky Park 75 mi
Borrego Springs Dark Sky Community 77 mi
Joshua Tree National Park Dark Sky Park 86 mi
Death Valley National Park Dark Sky Park 175 mi

Other light domes near Riverside

Los Angeles, CA (49 mi, core Bortle 9) , San Diego, CA (87 mi, core Bortle 8) , and Las Vegas, NV (200 mi, core Bortle 9) are the closest other metro-scale domes tracked here — each with its own core reading and its own darkest edge.

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Riverside?
Not from Riverside itself — at about Bortle 8 the dome is too bright. The darkest edge of the same metro is Crestline, about 21 mi out at roughly Bortle 5, or drive to the certified Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (75 mi) for a genuinely dark sky.
How dark is the sky across the Riverside metro?
It varies by how close you are to the core. Riverside itself reads about Bortle 8; the 54 towns in this light dome range down to Crestline at roughly Bortle 5, about 21 mi from the core. The table above sorts every town in the metro by measured darkness.
Where's the nearest certified dark-sky destination to Riverside?
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Dark Sky Park), about 75 mi away.
How to read this rating

A satellite proxy, not a survey-grade reading. Sources and limits.

More in California

All California towns · Bortle scale · Tonight's Moon · Dark-sky map