Astrocamping at Cherry Springs
Cherry Springs State park is a popular tourist destination in the remote region of Pennsylvania commonly referred to as the “Pennsylvania Wilds”, it’s about a 6 hour drive from New York City, about 5 hours from Philadelphia, and about 4 hours from Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Wilds offers a lot of exciting outdoor activities including camping, hiking, kayaking, ATV-riding, and hunting, but Cherry Springs’ claim to fame is its very dark skies making it one of the best areas in the Northeast for stargazing.
Cherry Springs is actually an International Dark Sky Preserve, a place set aside for people to experience the wonder of a clear dark sky in an era where most of the human population no longer has this kind of access to nature.
I’ve been an amateur astronomer since childhood, and last fall I bought a cool Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Ed Ting has a good review of the 6" version if you’re interested in this line of scopes. My advice for the NexStar line, if you want a 6" scope you’re probably fine with the cheaper NexStar 6SE, if you want to go to 8" you get a lot more stability from the Evolution 8 with its more robust mount.
So when I saw we were going to have one of our first warm clear nights of the summer on the weekend of April 23rd I decided it was time to take a trip up to Cherry Springs for a good old fashioned Messier Marathon.
But there was just one problem. Well, two problems.
- I wanted to bring my dog, and dogs aren’t allowed in the Cherry Springs Overnight Astronomy Field.
- I drive an electric car, and while charging stations cover most of the US nowadays the Pennsylvania Wilds are still fairly remote within the charging network.
So, rather than heading to Cherry Springs State Park itself I booked an RV campground at the nearby, pet friendly, Lyman Run State Park.
Driving Electric and Camping
We hit the road first thing on Saturday morning, reaching the park in the early afternoon after one long Supercharger stop at the charging station in Williamsport, PA.
The Williamsport Supercharger stop is a memorable spot to take a break. For one, Williamsport is a natural entryway to the Pennsylvania Wilds as one of the last major population centers you pass through when entering from the East. But also Williamsport’s history is deeply entwined with that of the Pennsylvania Wilds itself, the city grew up on the bank of the Susquehanna River as one of the major trade ports for the lumber industry. The dominance of lumber, and paucity of other commercial activities like farming, is what makes this region so sparsely populated and thus so low in light pollution.
But the real reason I feel like this trip gets better after Williamsport is it’s when you get off the interstate and onto the much more fun one-lane country road PA-44, the “Highway to the Stars”. Once I get onto PA-44 I roll down my windows, open the sunroof, and feel the fresh air on my face.
From Williamsport to Cherry Springs is 72 miles, making for a 144 mile round trip, well within the range of most modern electric cars. But that range number can be deceiving, for one, I took a significant range hit by mounting a roof box and camp awning on my car. I estimate this dropped my range by about 30%.
For two, the round trip range doesn’t tell the whole story, if you want to do any driving while you’re at your destination that’s going to eat into your total. In a pinch there is a closer Tesla Supercharger station in Mansfield, PA at just 45 miles away, but that requires a bit of a detour.
So what did I do about charging? Well, the Tesla Mobile Connector that until recently came with all Teslas supports charging from both household 120V wall outlets and 240V NEMA-1450 outlets, typically used for RVs. I was able to pull a somewhat meager 4kW, but I still managed to get back to 80% battery before midnight. I did have a problem with the breaker tripping whenever I pushed it beyond that, which is odd since it’s a 50A breaker. I notified a park ranger and she told me she’d have maintenance look at it later.
Based on some posts on PlugShare this seems to be a persistent issue, so definitely don’t plan on relying on the full 50A.
Campground Tips for Astrocamping
As noted the best place in the area for stargazing is obviously going to be the Overnight Astronomy Field at Cherry Springs. There are amenities there that are specific to stargazing, including restricting entry and exit after dark to prevent headlights from blinding you, WiFi and cell service, restrictions on use of non-red flashlights, and of course the location being at the top of a mountain helps give you a clear 360° view.
But, if you’re looking for a pet-friendly or EV friendly campground Lyman Run has a lot to offer. Just know that you’ll be in a valley with a bit of tree cover. Because the Earth spins from West to East any targets blocked by obstacles to your East will eventually move beyond them, but obstacles to the South and North will cut off areas of the sky all night long. For this reason as a general rule I recommend prioritizing a North-South sliver of sky over an East-West one. I picked campsite #23, others in that area looked pretty good including #33. I made this little video to show what amount of sky you can expect to get from Lyman Run.
Tesla Camp Mode
I actually don’t own a tent, I instead made use of one of these cheapo air mattresses and Tesla camp mode.
Uh…it was okay. Given the price it’s actually one of the cheapest pieces of camping gear I own, even some blankets are more expensive. I think if you want to make a habit out of car-camping in a Tesla you might want to consider the Dreamcase (though get ready for some sticker shock) for the Model S and Model X or for the Model 3 and Model Y the Tesmat.
And camp mode is just excellent. We ran the heat all night long without any toxic fumes coming out of the back of the car, and the power to run it came out of the RV pillar, not the battery. Even if you do run it on the battery it will turn off at 20%, so you can budget accordingly and choose a campsite within 20% of your battery range to a Supercharger.
Stargazing
Okay, we’ve made it to the campground and set up the telescopes. Now let’s get to the good part. Right before this trip I found another telescope, a 6" Newtonian Astrograph, on CloudyNights.com for a very low price. So I snapped it up, and luckily it arrived the day before this trip. (The one I got happens to be Celestron-branded, a few manufacturers sell similar scopes that are likely made in the same factory, Ed Ting has a review of a similar one.)
So how did I do? I worked primarily off of the classic Messier Marathon book. This was not the ideal night to do the marathon, as the Moon rose around 3am, providing a hard stop to my night. Why didn’t I wait for a new Moon? Well, for all I knew the following weekend would be cloudy (or, as it turned out to be, colder).
The cool thing about working off of the Messier Marathon book is that the charts are arranged in West-to-East order such that you’re always moving on to the next object in the catalog, so if you run out of ideas the book will give you a next object to look at. I was anticipating spending a significant amount of the night in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster and I was right.
The NexStar’s GoTo functionality allowed me to make short work of finding each object, doubly helpful as I’m an urbanite and not at all used to the clear dark skies available in the Wilds. But I did manage a few feats with the 6" Newtonian that are worth writing home about. I bought it mostly to serve as a wide field instrument, and it delivered, allowing me to frame both M81 and M82 in the eyepiece at once (an SCT won’t do that without a 2" wide field eyepiece).
Other really fantastic objects I observed included M106 and, by far the showpiece object of the night, the Whirlpool Galaxy M51. The viewing conditions were not absolutely perfect, and I could detect a bit of humidity in the air making those little white smudges even more smudgy, but I was still viewing objects that are just not available under a brighter urban sky. I definitely envy people who live in the Southwest and have access to not just dark skies but dry dark skies year-round.
I looked almost exclusively at Messier objects and I managed to, all told, hit 38 of the 110* objects in the catalog, including 2 globular clusters, 9 open clusters, one nebula, one double star (the only object in the catalog that isn’t a cluster, galaxy, or nebula), and a whopping 25 galaxies!
I called it quits at about 3am when a combination of clouds and trees blocked my progress. One of the things that will shock you when you first go to a dark site is that stars often seem to blink out of existence, leaving only a black sky visible. That’s actually clouds, without light pollution clouds appear black against the sky, the only reason clouds ever appear white on moonless nights at all is that we’re illuminating their bottoms with our artificial lights.
Even for the naked eye the skies in the Wilds are an absolute treat. Large bright deep sky objects like the Andromeda Galaxy or the M13 cluster become naked eye objects. One that I noticed visibly was M44, the Beehive Cluster, which was just on the precipice of a naked eye object and I could make out easily using the technique known as averted vision.
Other Options
There are other campgrounds in the area, including the northern loop of Lyman Run Campground, known as Daggett Run. The Daggett Run Campground is in an even tighter part of the valley, so your East-to-West sky is gonna be pretty constrained there but an astronomer could probably make do.
Another factor I should mention is cost and flexibility. Once you’ve spent your money on camping gear camping quickly becomes the cheapest option, I paid just about $60 for one night at Lyman Run, and non-RV campgrounds are even cheaper (at the time of writing Cherry Springs asks just $15/night for the Overnight Astronomy Field and $65/year for unlimited access to it). Because astronomy is a very fickle hobby with a lot riding on the weather it can be dicey to book non-refundable hotels or cabins, but campgrounds can often be arranged on short notice with a lot less at stake if you have to scrub.
And one more protip that might come in the clutch for you, Cherry Springs State Park has no showers, but you can use the showers at Lyman Run with just a small $4 fee (paid via the honor system in the provided donation box in the restroom).
Cherry Springs
I would remiss not to include some details about Cherry Springs State Park itself. Most of this information can be found on their website, but some of it I needed to phone the Lyman Run State Park Office to get someone to explain to me in simple plain English. Cherry Springs has three main areas which you can see on this map.
- The “Night Sky Viewing Area” is on the North side of PA-44 and is open 24/7 for “short-term astronomy”. This is a good option if you’re staying at a hotel in the area but want to use the park for astronomy. You’re protected from headlights in the parking area by a sand berm, but there’s no restriction on people using white flashlights. This area used to be the runway of a small airport, which is why it’s very flat and stretches well out into the woods from the parking area.
- The “Rustic Campground” is on the North side of PA-44, sandwiched between the Night Sky Viewing Area and the highway, and can be reserved like any other campground. This is a reasonable option if you want access to the Night Sky Viewing Area but don’t plan to spend the whole night stargazing.
- The “Overnight Astronomy Field” is where the real action happens, you’re allowed to camp on this field, but it’s on a first-come first-serve basis. Camping here costs $15/night, or $65 for an annual “Galaxy Pass” for unlimited access. You pay this fee in cash using an honor system envelope, jotting down your location in the field. They say this area is for “serious astronomers” and what that means is you can’t turn on any non-red lights (including and especially your car’s headlights) after dark. If you arrive after dark and want to use this area you have to walk in. You can’t leave until morning (barring some sort of emergency). This area is also used for the two annual star parties in Cherry Springs, the Cherry Springs Star Party and the Black Forest Star Party, as well as the Woodsman Show.
Ole Bull
Another option we swung by on the way back to check out for future trips is Ole Bull Campground. Though it looks like it would be pronounced like “ol’ bull” it’s actually “Oh-lay Bull”. Ole Bull was a Swedish violinist who attempted to build a settlement on the grounds in 1852.
The campground really shows this as it’s a mostly flat area where you could easily lay out a small settlement. It’s definitely an option for astrocamping but seemed quite a bit busier than Lyman Run. My wife and I both agreed Ole Bull would be a cool campground for regular camping, and maybe would be worth it to bring a small telescope for some light stargazing, but not for a trip devoted entirely to it.
B&Bs and Hotels
There are lots of cool AirBnBs and cabins available in the Cherry Springs area, on my prior trip I stayed at one owned by John and Olga in downtown Coudersport, they also have a stargazing field that you can rent.
Frosty Hollow is bed and breakfast in the area that owns a couple properties that are well placed, including next to Cherry Springs State Park itself. I haven’t stayed there but they’re on my list as a potential option.
One cool AirBnB in the area actually has an EV charger and a really open sky, no idea how bad the light pollution is there since it is a lot closer to the edge of the forest, but I’ll definitely try to book this for some trip in the future.
There are a few hotels and motels in Coudersport, I can’t really speak to them but that’s another option.
General Advice
I know a lot of people who have been out to Cherry Springs, and many of them just jump in the car and head out there without a plan. I think you probably do yourself a disservice to jump in the car and zip out to the woods unsure what you’re going to be doing out there. If you’re a complete beginner I would say the best time investment you can make in astronomy is to watch Ed Ting’s excellent beginner video series.
My other advice for beginners is that even though it seems like nowadays you can learn anything you need to know on YouTube or for free online, this is still a hobby where you get a lot of valuable information out of books. Ed Ting actually has a video on books as well, I’ve read a lot of these and I don’t think I have any books that I want to recommend that aren’t on his list.
Some advice if you want to do a little light astronomy while camping, some smaller telescopes can pull double duty as both an astronomical telescope and a spotting scope for daytime viewing of land targets. If you’re going camping and want a scope you can use for a little astronomy at night and to throw in a backpack and hike to the top of a mountain and enjoy some views I recommend the Orion 102mm Maksutov on Orion’s Tritech II Field Tripod. With a tripod like this you won’t be doing any viewing of zenith objects in the sky, but it’s very portable and can easily be taken hiking. This scope often ships with an erect image prism for land viewing, so you probably want to have both a star diagonal and that prism in the bag with it if you plan to use it this way.
My last piece of advice learned on this trip. If you have any astronomy reference books with plastic dust jackets you should probably duct tape them to the cover of the book. I brought along this Messier Object reference book which I found very useful for more in-depth information on the objects I was looking at, and by morning the book jacket was sopping wet with dew and ready to slough off.
*It’s somewhat controversial to say the Messier Catalog has 110 objects, Messier 102 was for some time thought to be a duplicate of Messier 101, but modern astronomers seem to be of the mind that it is in fact another galaxy.
