New Hampshire dark-sky map — light pollution by town
New Hampshire has 21 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — East Concord (Bortle 5) — to its brightest city cores, with 0 rating as genuinely dark or rural sky (Bortle 4 or better). Every town is listed with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. No site in the state holds an International Dark Sky Place certification, so its darkest skies are the rural towns at the top of the table. Ratings are a VIIRS satellite proxy, not survey-grade sky-brightness readings.
- Towns rated
- 21
- Darkest town
- East Concord
- Genuinely dark towns
- 0
- Certified dark-sky places
- 0
0 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).
Nearest certified dark-sky places to New Hampshire
No site in New Hampshire holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from East Concord, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.
| Place | Designation | State | From East Concord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument | Dark Sky Sanctuary | Maine | 235 mi |
| Cherry Springs State Park | Dark Sky Park | Pennsylvania | 340 mi |
| James River State Park | Dark Sky Park | Virginia | 545 mi |
All New Hampshire towns by darkness
Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.
| Sky | Nearest darker sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Concord | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.4 | Westford, MA — B4, 46 mi |
| Windham | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.8 | Westford, MA — B4, 17 mi |
| Londonderry | 5 | Suburban sky | 4.4 | Westford, MA — B4, 20 mi |
| Bedford | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.0 | Westford, MA — B4, 26 mi |
| Claremont | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.8 | Queensbury, NY — B4, 64 mi |
| Salem | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.8 | Westford, MA — B4, 19 mi |
| Merrimack | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 8.6 | Bedford — B5, 6 mi |
| Pelham | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.1 | Windham — B5, 5 mi |
| Derry Village | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 | Londonderry — B5, 4 mi |
| Lebanon | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 | Claremont — B5, 19 mi |
| Durham | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 | York Beach, ME — B5, 16 mi |
| Somersworth | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 | York Beach, ME — B5, 14 mi |
| Derry | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 12 | Londonderry — B5, 3 mi |
| Rochester | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 18 | Wells Beach Station, ME — B5, 19 mi |
| Laconia | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 20 | East Concord — B5, 20 mi |
| Dover | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 | Somersworth — B6, 4 mi |
| Portsmouth | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 30 | Durham — B6, 9 mi |
| Keene | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 31 | Gardner, MA — B6, 29 mi |
| Concord | 8 | City sky | 42 | East Concord — B5, 2 mi |
| Nashua | 8 | City sky | 45 | Tyngsboro, MA — B5, 7 mi |
| Manchester | 8 | City sky | 48 | Bedford — B5, 5 mi |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in New Hampshire?
- The darkest town tracked here is East Concord. Sort the table on this page by darkness to see the full ranking, from the most rural, star-filled skies down to the brightest city cores.
- How many dark-sky towns does New Hampshire have?
- Of 21 towns rated here, 0 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better) — good for seeing the Milky Way on a clear, moonless night.
- How are these light-pollution ratings measured?
- From VIIRS 2024 annual-average satellite night-lights, sampled at each town's center and mapped to a darkness class and an estimated Bortle band. It is a satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning, not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading. See the methodology page for details.
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