Fremont Peak will be closed in August for repaving

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Says it all somehow.

You can check out the front page of the FPOA site, just for reassurance. The work is starting on 1 August.

https://fpoa.net/

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Got a further clarification from Ranger Derek, a very good guy. Far as FPOA goes, August is toast. 

There is a window from 1-8 August where the rest of the park will be open.

Here's what Derek wrote: " They’ll be working on the Observatory road and the Tower road starting August 3rd Through August 8th, but the park will still be open."

And then from the 10th on till the end of the month, the whole park will be closed.

There you have it.

[Jeff Crilly]

Thx for the heads up.  

Re “working on the observatory road”… any word if the gravel portion is getting paved?  I can only hope.  

On Jul 26, 2026, at 7:10 PM, Jamie Dillon, DDK <ngc1...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[mccart...@yahoo.com]

I hope they do NOT pave the road up to the pads / observatory.  It would create bad seeing problems (blacktop retains most of the sun's heat during the day and slowly releases it at night, vs. a dirt road which will reflect much of the light/heat and be able to cool more quickly at night).

Mark

[Akshay Subramaniam]

Here’s a great satellite video of Houston showing how much of an impact paved roads can have on convection that then triggers cloud formation perfectly aligned with the interstates and other big roads

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[Jeff Crilly]

True — big city pavement is going to have a negative effect on seeing. But what we’re really taking about is local seeing. Large surfaces that retain heat will of course cause local seeing problems. Eg House roofing, tall buildings etc.
While I do get the idea that local seeing may be affected by paving around the observing area, I do wonder exactly what characteristics of the paved are must exist in order to cause a significant and noticeable effect on local seeing.
(For example, light colored pavement? How long does it really take

I have some (possibly anecdotal) experience in this area.
Lick Observatory is completely 100% paved around the main observatory building (where the 36” and 40” domes are located). And not a single lane road — it’s a parking lot for like 50-70 vehicles. In the 25+ years I’ve been observing at Lick with a variety instruments ranging from well corrected SCTs to 6” refractors (no to mention the 36” and 40”), I have experienced excellent seeing (the best I’ve seen anywhere) on many occasions. Additionally , 100% of that observing was done in the summer months (as opposed to winter where there is an occasion dusting (or more) of snow up there).
So while I am sensitive to paving and local seeing… and especially weary of the effect in neighborhoods and cities, I somewhat question the effect in areas where the paving is limited, and the majority of the observing area is surrounded by grassland.
And, fwiw, with the rest of the existing park paved , I would wonder how much of the park has been causing local seeing degradation over the years.
Also of note is this: at the FP observatory pads the “good” direction is to the east and southeast. (West - where the road lies — is kinda useless due to light pollution…Oh, and the tower.). And it turns out there is nothing but grasslands to the “good” direction.

OTOH, dust on optics will result in decreased optical transmission over time and require more frequent cleaning potentially, damaging said optics.

YMMV

[Peter Natscher]

I agree with Jeff. I would prefer a more solid road surface surrounding the observatory for ground dust control as vehicles enter and exit the immediate area and late afternon wind creating airborne dust over our equipment. Fremont Peak usually has late afternoon-early evening breezes that will blow away any day time ground surface heat build up. What major observatories don't have solid paved areas and heat absorbing structures surrounding them? They all do.

[Jeff Crilly]

Fwiw.. the vehicle/road/gravel/dust is what keeps me from attending weekend events up there.    Public night has lots of ppl waving around… and usually lots of young ones.  Dust gets kick up a bunch.  

I’m not expecting it gets paved.   Probably difficult/costly to do and might not be in scope.  

On Jul 29, 2026, at 8:04 AM, 'Peter Natscher' via The Astronomy Connection <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I agree with Jeff. I would prefer a more solid road surface surrounding the observatory for ground dust control as vehicles enter and exit the immediate area and late afternon wind creating airborne dust over our equipment. Fremont Peak usually has late afternoon-early evening breezes that will blow away any day time ground surface heat build up. What major observatories don't have solid paved areas and heat absorbing structures surrounding them? They all do.

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[Peter Natscher]

Rob Hawley says:

"From what we have been told the hill is to remain gravel; however, we are the flea at the end of the dog’s tail.  We are still trying to resolve some of the mixed messages we are getting on the project."

Rob Hawley-FPOA

rob.h...@fpoa.net