OR, SW lot at the Peak! Sunday night.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

This past Sunday night the 23rd, I set up to observe in the SW lot at the Peak for the first time in I dunno how long. Had been checking on the place since June, times when I was leaving the Peak at night. Both times the place was nice and dark, free of floodlights. Once in June I even met a couple of imagers from Hollister who were packing up at midnight after a fun time.

So this is a good-news site report as much as an OR. The old ranger’s house is empty, no hint of lights, motion-triggered nor nothin’.

Had some superior visitors not long after sunset, 3 interested young men, Saul, Manny and Israel, who were thrilled to see Saturn, the Cygnus Milky Way and M31. Turns out they all just graduated from Pajaro Valley High, where I did speech therapy around 2007.

The only big change in the SW lot is the trees that have grown up along the west side. You don’t see the coast nor the smokestack lights in Moss Landing anymore.  So the lot has a sense of being a little more snug. Sure is dark. If you peek under the trees from a couple of spots, you can see some of the lights in San Juan Bautista, way below. Otherwise zero lights. The eastern horizon turns out to be lower than from the Observatory, due to the overall shape of the mountain.

Coulter Row was dark that night as well. People don’t tend to camp behind there in the winter. And if you haven’t been there, that lot has a fancy horizon to the South.

On the BTIT scale, the sky was Significantly Better Than In Town, 5.8 limiting magnitude for me, seeing on the upper end of good, say 4.5/5. Saturn was fun to stare at, with the rings sharp and skinny, and the shadow on the rings on the disk quite dark and distinct. Titan and Dione were lined up to the west, and Tethys and Rhea to the east.

Regarding the hype that was in the papers last week about the rings, they look pretty much like they have since July, when I started looking at Saturn again in the scope. It was in March when they disappeared, when Saturn was on the other side of the Sun.

Played around with the still new 20mm Pentax. NGC 752, just above the triangle in Triangulum, was stunning. Had a rich view of M33, and went back to M31 and its immediate neighbors. Fun eyepiece, was a nice Christmas present last year.

Of course I very much regret our loss of Pinnacles West for stargazing. Very grateful though to have good alternatives. My old buddy Stacy Jo long ago referred to DDK’s long love affair with the Peak. This was my 4th time up there this year, so I hadn’t been unfaithful.

[Peter Natscher]

Interesting!  Was this a last day decision to go to the SW lot without a two-day advance request to the park as FPOA requires?  FPOA requires the two-day advance request on account of the park's rules.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Peter, you only need to give notice when you want the combo for the gate, to get behind the ranger's house.

The SW lot and Coulter Row are open at night, like always.

[Peter Natscher]

I know about the two-day notice for FPOA, I'm a member and use it monthly.  What I was asking is about setting up anywhere in the rest of the park, the Coulter Row and SW lot spaces. Did you notify a FP park ranger directly ahead of time to use the SW lot?  We used to have to email the rangers beforehand.

[Peter Natscher]

I recently contacted ranger Nathan at the Pacheco SP asking about getting into Dino Pt once again.  It's been two years since we did use it.  Nathan responded:

Hello Peter,

A lot has changed in the last year or two.  I think we moved the event into the Pacheco State Park Parking lot. I know Pacheco is not as dark as the boat ramp area, but that works better for us with staffing levels and controlling access to the facilities after hours. We also had a brief moment when we had staff led astronomy programs in the Pacheco Parking lot with decent viewing.   As for the lock, I would say its gone.  I remember it being damaged several times via vandals and have replaced it with state locks at least once.  We have also gone though a few chains. I know that Henry Coe has had their back Dowdey Ranch Gate open for a long time, you might reach out to them and see if they have after hour access. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Nathan Aeschleman

Would the higher elevation Pacheco Park parking lot still be of interest to any astro activity?  It's affected by substantial traffic light being close to busy Rt 152.

[Tony Hurtado]

Peter & Jamie,

I've often wondered about the Pacheco Park area at the top of Dino Pt Rd. Aren't there a lot of (probably light emitting) buildings in immediate proximity? Thinking about driving at an opportune dark time to inspect.

Any data points to that end?

-Tony Hurtado

On Nov 26, 2025, at 10:25 AM, 'Peter Natscher' via The Astronomy Connection (TAC) <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Brad Templeton]

I talked to them about 1.5 years ago.     Yes, they didn't want to let us to the boat ramp.   When he says the Pacheo parking lot, there are two lots that could be.  The first is one I use from time to time, it is ungated and to the left, just before the gate to go down to the reservoir.    There is another lot to the right, which is behind a gate at night, around 500 feet away from Dino point road on Whiskey Flat rd.      The ungated lot has the virtue of being ungated, so you can just show up and use it.   In theory you need to put $10 in the envelope (I have a park pass, which also works.)   It has potties.     The downside is that when there's a meteor shower or comet in the news, untrained members of the public will sometimes come to this lot and drive in with headlights on.    Not a lot, but enough to annoy you.       You can see highway headlights in the distance but they are not a problem.

The other lot, being gated, would not have the public coming in like that.    I have not used it.     I have thought of making a sandwich board sign to put up in the entrance of the lot saying "Astronomy Dark Site.  Turn off headlines and have a pedestrian guide you in if needed."  They would have to get out of the car to move the sign would be my plan. I would not ask permission to put it up, though there would be nothing unsafe about such a sign, just drive over it in an emergency.