A small hillside cabin on a dark-sky ridge. No light pollution for 30 miles in any direction. The cabin was built in 1992 by an astronomer named Howard who wanted somewhere to retire without sacrificing the sky.
The cabin is built into the slope with a deck that cantilevers out over a fifty-foot drop. There's a 10-inch Dobsonian telescope in a hinged closet that rolls out onto the deck on casters. We keep it collimated (see Field notes — we reset it in February); a laminated guide on the shelf points you at six good targets: M31, M13, the Ring Nebula, Jupiter's moons, the Orion Nebula, and the Double Cluster. You don't have to use it. You can just sit on the deck in the dark.
The stove runs on wood pellets — we stock a full bin of them, enough for a week. It's clean, it's quiet, it's the right kind of lazy.
Bortle Class 2 on a clear moonless night, verified by a Sky Quality Meter Howard left on the shelf. The Milky Way casts a shadow on clear August evenings. Zodiacal light visible in spring and fall. The northern horizon is obscured by the ridge itself, which is an unfortunate trade — you lose part of Cassiopeia in winter, but you gain shelter from north winds that would otherwise shake the telescope.
New moon windows are the prize, especially August through October when the Milky Way runs straight overhead and the Perseids or Orionids are active. Winter is underrated: no bugs, crisp air, half the stars you can see in summer and twice as sharp. February's late-month new moon is a sleeper pick — very cold, very clear, very few guests willing to drive the road.
$155/night, two-night minimum, $70 turnover. New-moon weeks book first; we keep a waitlist.