Crow Butte State Park

Jim & Geoff have gotten into astronomy.  However, in the Pacific Northwest that can be a challenge as there always seems to be cloud cover.  Jim discovered Crow Butte while he was looking for a place to observe the night skies unobstructed by clouds, trees and light pollution.

Campground Info:  Crow Butte State Park  Boardman, WA  Site 42.  Weather was hot and sunny with beautiful night skies.

Campers:  Jim, Uncle Carl, Geoff, Deb.

Crow Butte is more of a "park like" setting than a lot of other places we have been too.  The sites all have large grassy areas with trees - which help during the sunny, hot afternoons.  It is on an island in the Columbia River up the Gorge.  On two sides you have the river and views and on the other is the more arid and hilly spots.  We have the arid spot - that leads up and away from the trees for better stargazing.  There are no campfire pits at the sites - only little BBQ pits.  If you want a campfire, it is permitted but you need to bring your own.  Bathrooms are very clean. 

There is boating and swimming available.  It is also a day use park for the nearby towns - which are not that near by!  Fisherman have been seen up and down the river as well.  We found a couple of Geo-caching opportunities, but this campground, for us anyway, is all about the stargazing and relaxing.

The path to the Observatory

Jim and Uncle Carl started out on this trip and the rest of us joined Jim on the weekend.  There are many, many, many rattlesnake warnings at the camp - however, we were fortunate enough not to see or hear any.