Death Valley National Park is a Gold-tier International Dark Sky Park and one of the largest dark-sky areas in the US — vast, remote, and exceptionally dry. Bortle 1–2 conditions are the norm across most of the park, with the Milky Way, zodiacal light, and gegenschein all routinely visible. The desert's extreme aridity and the park's huge buffer from city light make for some of the clearest, darkest skies accessible from the West Coast. At 36.5°N, the southern sky is well placed, and observing from below sea level on the valley floor adds to the experience.