Known by day for its picturesque Canadian Rocky Mountains, colorful alpine lakes, and stunning sunsets, Alberta's Jasper National Park beckons all travelers who love the outdoors. It also welcomes avid astrotourists who seek out dark skies after a day of adventure. Limited light pollution – ensured by the park’s dark sky preserve status – guarantees a clear view of the stars, Milky Way, and even the aurora during winter months.

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, the world's largest salt flat, has started seeing more travelers visit at night to take advantage of its starry skies and wide horizon. Stargazing tours typically depart from the towns of Uyuni or Colchani, and some operators pair viewing the sunrise or sunset with a stargazing session.

Soaring almost vertically above the Patagonian steppe in Chile, the granite pillars of Torres del Paine dominate the landscape of South America’s finest national park. To take advantage of the limited darkness available in months when the sky is clear requires advance planning and the willingness to stay up into the wee hours. It’s worth it, though: Torres del Paine provides a stunning natural foreground against which you can view the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and the southern sky.

The stone Puebloan structures at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico have been preserved as part of the US national park system, and the site earned designation as an International Dark Sky Park in 2013. The light pollution controls established to protect the night sky above Chaco Canyon mean visitors can experience the starry nights as the Ancestral Puebloans did centuries ago.

In the heavily developed Eastern US, it can be hard to truly marvel at the stars. Cherry Springs State Park, in the northern part of Central Pennsylvania, is one of the remaining spots where you can see the night sky, and its 2008 designation marks it as one of the world’s earliest dark sky preserves. Amateur observers across the Atlantic Seaboard have made this a premier destination for bringing their telescopes and peering up at the sky.