Goblin Valley State Park
International Dark Sky Park · Green River, Utah
A valley floor covered in thousands of squat mushroom-shaped hoodoos, locally called goblins, formed where hard caprock has protected softer Entrada sandstone laid down about 170 million years ago in a Jurassic tidal flat. It stood in for an alien planet in Galaxy Quest, and it looks the part. DarkSky International certified it as an International Dark Sky Park on 6 September 2016, and the combination — a bizarre landscape by day and a genuinely black sky by night — is what makes it worth the detour off Highway 24.
Goblin Valley Road, Green River, Utah, United States
Open daily year round, and the park does not close at dusk — day visitors may stay for the night sky. A Utah State Parks day-use fee is charged per vehicle, typically about $10-$20, with the state parks annual pass accepted. Camping and the yurts are booked through Utah State Parks and fill well ahead for spring and autumn weekends, and especially around new moon. ⚠ AN INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY PARK, CERTIFIED 6 SEPTEMBER 2016 — check the moon phase before choosing your date, because a full moon erases the Milky Way entirely. Bring a red torch rather than a white one. ⚠ THERE IS NO SHADE AMONG THE GOBLINS and no water on the valley floor; summer heat is severe. The park is remote — about twelve miles north of Hanksville and four miles off Highway 24 — with very limited services nearby. ⚠ THE HOODOOS ARE ABOUT 170 MILLION YEARS OLD AND FRAGILE; one was deliberately toppled in 2013 and the men responsible were prosecuted.
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