The best places to see the Northern Lights in the U.S.

As our country’s most northern and eastern state, Maine provides excellent chances of seeing the Northern Lights, especially since it’s heavily forested with very low levels of light pollution. The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is an International Dark Sky Sanctuary—Mount Katahdin being an impressive mountain in Baxter State Park, the tallest in the state—and throughout Maine, stargazing events take place to celebrate the “Northern Lights enthusiast’s paradise,” according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

The Northern Lights season here lasts a long time, from August 21 to April 21, and a handy tracker lets you know when your chances are best across six different options. As of this writing, three locations show "above average" chances of seeing the Aurora Borealis. A few places known for spectacular viewing are Chena Lake Recreation Area, just outside the North Pole; the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge (you must wonder how the birds feel about the Northern Lights!); and Cleary Summit. Most hotels in the area offer you a wake-up call when the Northern Lights appear so you can go to bed knowing you won’t miss anything.

A Facebook page of 101.5k members tracks Aurora Borealis throughout the state. People post to let others know of current or about-to-happen auroral activity and to share photos. While the group rules concede that the Northern Lights aren’t standard in Washington like in Alaska, the moderators are excited for people to notify each other when it’s happening. Places that are known to be good for viewing include Cascade Pass inside North Cascades National Park, Carkeek Park in Seattle (far from downtown and its light pollution and with a nice view of the sky over Puget Sound), and Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park in Clallam County (although its day lodge was destroyed by fire in 2023).

Glacier National Park includes many amazing places to settle in and watch the lights. You can see them reflected in the waters of Lake McDonald. You can stay in your tent at the Bowman & Kinta lakes to see them in the backcountry. Other spots include Looking Glass Road or the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (where you can share viewing rights with a bison herd in their paddock). And if you’re more into drinking and merriment than quiet awe, try the Northern Lights Saloon & Cafe in Polebridge for live music and huckleberry pie as you watch together.

At the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center in Cook County's Grand Marais, the All Sky Camera mounted on the seasonal museum’s roof captures a 360-degree sky photo every minute from 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise. The results are unusual: a ball of color with the tips of evergreen trees around the edges; the photo above was taken by the All Sky Camera on March 23, 2023, at 10pm. Roughly 40 minutes away, the Grand Portage State Park is also a great place to see the Northern Lights.

If the Northern Lights appear in North Dakota, as they do year-round, they’re available everywhere in the state. But of course, your best bet is to get outside city limits to decrease light pollution. The five best spots are Pembina Gorge, Sully Creek State Park, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Sheyenne National Grassland.

With miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan and a few big cities with light pollution, Door County is an excellent place to view the Aurora Borealis. Three recommended places? Rock Island State Park, Washington Island, and especially Newport State Park, was named a dark-sky park in 2017.

Michigan is a great state for hikers and waterfall lovers, and it's also home to dark sky preserves, which are located in six state parks, three international dark sky parks, and one international dark sky sanctuary. Good spaces to park yourself for viewing include the Headlands International Dark Sky Park in Mackinaw City, Port Crescent State Park in Port Austin, and all along the south shoreline of Lake Superior’s Upper Peninsula. The viewing spot at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse on Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Peninsula is a spectacular place to bask in the eerie skylights.

Check out Idaho's Heyburn State Park on Chatcolet Lake in the town of Plummer, the oldest park in the Pacific Northwest, for wonderful vista points to watch the Aurora Borealis. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes bike path is a great place to bike and tilt your helmeted head upwards, especially on the suspension bridge over Chatcolet Lake. Also recommended is Schweitzer, where you can hike mountains (or take the ski lift in summer) to get closer to the sky.

There’s a reason a photo of the Northern Lights, as seen in Denali National Park, is featured on the National Park Services’ overview web page on the Aurora Borealis. This park has incredible views because it is so far north and light pollution is almost nil. The National Park Service is involved in studying the night sky. It suggests that visitors to Denali read first about traditional Athabaskan star knowledge and learn the Alaska Native Peoples’ names and stories for the constellations.

Although South Dakota lies underneath North Dakota, its northern regions sit at a higher latitude than some New England states, given that proximity to Canada, in general, provides a better chance to see the Northern Lights. Badlands National Park is a great place to try, given its distance from cities and its unimpeded view of the northern horizon. Other good bets are dark sky designated Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Sylvan Lake and Deerfield Reservoir.