Dark Sky Park
Newport State Park is situated on 960 hectares (2,373 acres) of publicly-owned land at the tip of the Door Peninsula, a geographic feature extending 130 kilometers (70 miles) into Lake Michigan from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Park’s territory consists of evergreen and hardwood forests, wetlands and upland meadows, along with 18 km (11 miles) of lake shoreline and 48 km (30 miles) of hiking trails. It is Wisconsin’s only wilderness-designated state park.
Because of its geographic situation, Newport’s nights are remarkable dark. The Park’s location at the sparsely-populated end of the peninsula, separated from the mainland by 24 km (15 miles) of open water, makes its dark sky resource highly defensible in the future. Recognizing the value of its dark skies, for the past 25 years the Park has undertaken public outreach and education on astronomy and the importance of natural darkness to local wildlife. It has also brought its minimal site lighting into full compliance with IDA guidelines for parks.