Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase

Astrotourism is booming, yet the infrastructure built to support it has introduced star-obscuring light into remote and rural places. Last year, light pollution authority DarkSky International and glamping brand Under Canvas piloted a fix: a certification for accommodations that restore and protect their twilight views. Under Canvas’ Lake Powell-Grand Staircase, a collection of 50 safari-style tents set atop a shrub-studded canyon in southern Utah, became the world’s first official DarkSky-approved resort in August 2023. The desert hang spent years pursuing this, altering and changing hundreds of lights and undergoing rigorous evaluations. Now its glittery nighttime fresco enchants guests through full-moon hikes, astronomy talks, telescope sessions, and expert-led meteor shower parties—the perfect cap to a day spent hiking mesas and traversing the onsite slot canyon. Several nearby Under Canvas camps, including near Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, have since nabbed the seal, and this January, DarkSky opened the application process to lodgings worldwide. To succeed, properties must protect their Milky Way vistas, a rare treat in today’s over-illuminated world. Light pollution hides the shimmering arc from most North American homes; it also disrupts nocturnal ecology. Awareness-building, including among travelers, is an important step.

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