Vermont dark-sky map — light pollution by town
Vermont has 5 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Colchester (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores, with 1 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
- 5
- Darkest town
- Colchester
- Genuinely dark towns
- 1
- Certified dark-sky places
- 0
1 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).
Nearest certified dark-sky places to Vermont
No site in Vermont holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Colchester, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.
| Place | Designation | State | From Colchester |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument | Dark Sky Sanctuary | Maine | 240 mi |
| Cherry Springs State Park | Dark Sky Park | Pennsylvania | 310 mi |
| Negwegon State Park | Dark-sky preserve | Michigan | 500 mi |
All Vermont towns by darkness
Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.
| Sky | Nearest darker sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 1.6 | already the darkest nearby |
| Essex Junction | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 10 | Colchester — B4, 4 mi |
| South Burlington | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 13 | Colchester — B4, 5 mi |
| Rutland | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 | Claremont, NH — B5, 35 mi |
| Burlington | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 24 | South Burlington — B6, 2 mi |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in Vermont?
- The darkest town tracked here is Colchester. 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 Vermont have?
- Of 5 towns rated here, 1 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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