Stars and Galaxies

Chimney Rock National Monument Tours

The Stars and Galaxies Program is offered on a select Friday each month when the earth is closest to the New Moon. When a “New Moon” occurs, the night sky is at its darkest, highlighting thousands of stars against the vast blackness of space – a unique experience here at Chimney Rock, isolated from the artificial lights of modern-day civilization. A video presentation, “Tour of the Night Sky”, will facilitate identification of constellations, bright stars, and other objects of interest; to be followed by a presentation explaining the significance of the night sky to the Ancestral Puebloans. This special sky opportunity affords an exclusive view of heavenly bodies from a place where the Ancestral Puebloans lived and observed and studied the celestial skies daily over 1,000 years ago. Telescopes will be utilized to observe several different sky objects in our Milky Way Galaxy, which looks to the naked eye like a dense low cloud. In actuality, it is millions of light years away and contains billions of stars. 

At this altitude, nights begin to cool rapidly after sunset, so an appropriate jacket and other gear will enable you to remain comfortable. Also suggested are lawn chairs; a regular flashlight, a flashlight with a red lens (available for $4); and blankets, pillows, cushions. Note: The program will be adjusted according to current weather conditions and take place as scheduled. 

Check-in is at the Highway 151 entrance gate at the time stated below for each individual Friday program. Please adhere to the check-in timeline. The gate will be promptly locked at the end of that time. Tickets are $20.00 for ages 13 and up, $10.00 for ages 5-12, and under 5 are free. Making a reservation through the Recreation.gov website or the call center (877-444-6777) is the only way to guarantee a spot for this program. Recreation.gov charges a $1.00 reservation fee that is non-refundable. Reservations will be cut off 12 hours prior to the start of the program. Walk-ins will be accommodated if space is available and will be accepted on a first come, first served basis, and must arrive during the specified check-in time frame. Those tickets can be purchased directly at the Gift Shop. Refunds will be issued only for cancelled - not modified - programs. No refunds will be issued for no-shows. 

Dates:

Friday, June 7

Check-in: 7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.

Program: 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. 

Friday, July 5

Check-in: 7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.

Program: 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. 

Friday, August 2

Check-in: 7:15 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Program: 8:15 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. 

Friday, August 30

Check-in: 6:30 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

Program: 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. 

Friday, September 27

Check-in: 5:45 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Program: 6:45 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. 

Capacity: 60

Select a date to see a list of times

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