One week after hosting its first-ever overnight event, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument south of Harrison is holding another evening activity tonight – the ranger-guided Full Moon Tour, a 2.7-mile roundtrip hike..
Park Lead Interpretive Ranger Tera Lynn Gray says it leaves the visitor center area at 7:30 and wraps up back there about 9:30 with 3 stops and viewing opportunities along the way and another half-hour of activities afterwards.
Moonrise tonight is at 7:24, just ahead of the start of the hike. The first interpretive stop is Golden Hour at 7:53, followed by Blue Hour at 8:57, and Nautical Twilight at 9:11. Telescope viewing is available after the return with Astronomical Twilight wrapping things up at 9:55.
Gray says Agate Fossil Beds is trying to earn international Dark Sky Park certification as one of the best, most natural places to view the night sky because of its distance from sources of light pollution.
To publicize the effort, the park is holding a series of summer astronomy programs, the only time visitors are allowed on the monument grounds between dusk and dawn.
That’s what made last Saturday night’s inaugural “Campout Under the Stars” so special and unique. Gray says it was the first time camping was allowed on the grounds since the monument was established in 1965.
Over 30 people took advantage of the opportunity with the Black Hills Parks and Forests Association, the non-profit that runs the park store, providing funding and logistical support for the unique event.
Gray says the hope is that the Campout participants were energized by the experience to take an even more active role in both fighting light pollution and helping Agate get the Dark Sky Part certification.
There are two more evening events planned for this summer, a viewing night for the Perseids meteor shower on August 12 and what Gray calls “the much-anticipated” Astrophotography 101 seminar on September 9
More information about those events and Agate’s efforts to protect and celebrate the night sky can be found at go.nps.gov/AgateAfterDark.