South Dakota dark-sky map — light pollution by town
South Dakota has 11 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Vermillion (Bortle 6) — 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
- 11
- Darkest town
- Vermillion
- 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 South Dakota
No site in South Dakota holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Vermillion, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.
| Place | Designation | State | From Vermillion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voyageurs National Park | Dark Sky Park | Minnesota | 440 mi |
| Homer Glen | Dark Sky Community | Illinois | 465 mi |
| Middle Fork River Forest Preserve | Dark Sky Park | Illinois | 490 mi |
All South Dakota towns by darkness
Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.
| Sky | Nearest darker sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermillion | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 | Minnetonka Mills, MN — B5, 230 mi |
| Huron | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 | Vermillion — B6, 125 mi |
| Spearfish | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 28 | Casper, WY — B6, 165 mi |
| Mitchell | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 31 | Vermillion — B6, 85 mi |
| Watertown | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 39 | Vermillion — B6, 145 mi |
| Brookings | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 40 | Vermillion — B6, 105 mi |
| Yankton | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 40 | Vermillion — B6, 25 mi |
| Aberdeen | 8 | City sky | 63 | Huron — B7, 77 mi |
| Pierre | 8 | City sky | 68 | Huron — B7, 105 mi |
| Rapid City | 8 | City sky | 92 | Spearfish — B7, 42 mi |
| Sioux Falls | 9 | Inner-city sky | 102 | Brookings — B7, 53 mi |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in South Dakota?
- The darkest town tracked here is Vermillion. 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 South Dakota have?
- Of 11 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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