West Virginia dark-sky map — light pollution by town
West Virginia has 16 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Weirton Heights (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
- 16
- Darkest town
- Weirton Heights
- 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 West Virginia
No site in West Virginia holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Weirton Heights, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.
| Place | Designation | State | From Weirton Heights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Springs State Park | Dark Sky Park | Pennsylvania | 165 mi |
| James River State Park | Dark Sky Park | Virginia | 215 mi |
| Lake Hudson State Recreation Area | Dark-sky preserve | Michigan | 215 mi |
All West Virginia towns by darkness
Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.
| Sky | Nearest darker sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weirton Heights | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 17 | Upper Saint Clair, PA — B5, 25 mi |
| Weirton | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 17 | Upper Saint Clair, PA — B5, 27 mi |
| Teays Valley | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 20 | Hollins, VA — B5, 135 mi |
| Bluefield | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 21 | Radford, VA — B6, 37 mi |
| Vienna | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 | Teays Valley — B6, 64 mi |
| Saint Albans | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 31 | Teays Valley — B6, 7 mi |
| Fairmont | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 31 | South Park Township, PA — B6, 57 mi |
| Martinsburg | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 32 | Halfway, MD — B6, 16 mi |
| Morgantown | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 35 | Jefferson Hills, PA — B5, 46 mi |
| Clarksburg | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 35 | South Park Township, PA — B6, 73 mi |
| Beckley | 8 | City sky | 43 | Bluefield — B7, 35 mi |
| Huntington | 8 | City sky | 64 | Meads, KY — B6, 14 mi |
| Wheeling | 8 | City sky | 64 | Steubenville, OH — B7, 22 mi |
| South Charleston | 8 | City sky | 68 | Saint Albans — B7, 8 mi |
| Parkersburg | 8 | City sky | 69 | Vienna — B7, 4 mi |
| Charleston | 8 | City sky | 82 | Saint Albans — B7, 11 mi |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in West Virginia?
- The darkest town tracked here is Weirton Heights. 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 West Virginia have?
- Of 16 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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