Texas Night Sky Conservation & Photography Guide
- snoopsphoto
- Nov 10, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 16, 2025
Hello and welcome to my quick guide to astrophotography and dark sky conservation advocacy, specifically as it relates to Texas! When people hear "Texas" they may think of cowboys, guns, and oil. While those things are all present in Texas, I get to see a different side of the lone star state - contrary to the nickname, my perspective includes many many stars.
Texas Night Sky Conservation Guide
One may say that night sky conservation photography is a very specific niche, and you're not wrong! But there are many reasons to invest in an eco-friendly photography workflow and practice sustainable astrophotography methods.
If you are an animal-lover, your motivation for reducing light pollution in astrophotography is to reduce habitat, migration, and orientation disruptions to wildlife. At the very least, it's probably save to assume an astrophotographer is inspired by the night sky, and in that case alone using ethical night sky photography techniques is essential to preserving the photography subject you love.
The good news is that it's easy to practice dark sky preservation for photographers! Being respectful of the land is a huge part of it, reducing light pollution is another big component of dark sky preservation. Another important, yet often overlooked, factor in night sky conservation best practices is education! Help others realize the significant impact the night sky has on the things they care about and spread awareness.
According to this article from the AMA Journal of Ethics, light pollution is
"...suppressing melatonin production, undermining sleep quality and duration, and exacerbating susceptibility to many kinds of illness."
The beautiful thing about photography is that it is an artistic medium. While you can spread light pollution awareness through photography, you can also use your artistic perspective as a means to remind people of what inspires and drives us when the lights are off. Documenting light pollution through astrophotography is a great way to help get the message out and make a bigger impact in the long run. In the short term, follow these responsible night sky photography tips:
Know before you go!
Follow park rules, have a trail or location already picked out (bonus tip: use Google Earth to location scout ahead of time), and make sure to stick to designated paths.
Do Not Trespass!
Do not use private lands or trails without the appropriate permissions! There are many publicly available places for stargazing and astrophotography in Texas (see below), use them and be respectful of the locals.
Respect Native Plants & Wildlife!
Stick to the designated paths and keep an appropriate distance from wildlife - especially with potentially dangerous animals like javelinas, mountain lions, coyotes, bears, and alligators (all of which can be found in Texas!).
Do Not Pollute!
Follow the pack in pack out rule, use a red-light/dark-sky friendly astrophotography lighting setup when necessary, and make sure your headlights and phone light are not contributing to the light pollution!
You can check out more tips for astrophotographers to reduce environmental impact in my article: Introduction to Astrophotography, which includes a thorough guide on how to photograph the night sky responsibly, as well as setup and best practices for dark sky photography. The International Dark Sky Association also has great resources for getting connected with your local community - check out their website here.
By practicing the above tips for preserving night skies through conservation photography, you can be out photographing constellations while protecting dark skies for future generations of aspiring astrophotographers to enjoy.
So now you know how to protect the dark sky zones, where can you find dark sky zones in Texas?
Texas Night Sky Photography Guide
Let's talk about Texas-specific astrophotography. Below are some of the top dark sky locations in Texas for photographing and viewing stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. The locations listed in this article are publicly accessible lands and represent a combination of places listed by DarkSky.org, places ranked 1-3 on the Bortle Scale by TPWD, and places I have personally been to and noted the especially dark night sky. You'll see some towns and cities on the lists, these are for my less outdoorsy photographers who are still eager to photograph the night sky. That all said, there are tons of additional locations throughout the state of Texas that I believe would still be dark enough night skies for astrophotography and I'll list a few of these as "honorable mentions"
While some truly beautiful national parks are included in this list, I also cannot recommend the Texas State Parks enough. With day passes costing around $6 on average and much smaller crowds, many of these parks could compete with the U.S. National Parks for their stunning and unique wildlife and landscapes. Most recently, Texas has invested over $1 billion in state funding for our 89 (and growing) state parks, and boy does it show. New headquarters buildings, new gift shops, and most exciting, brand new parks now dot the span of Texas Parks and Wildlife's ongoing projects - they even have their own Dark Skies Program, which you can learn more about here.
Hill Country & Central Texas
These are the best places for night sky viewing and photography in Central Texas: State Parks:
National Parks:
City Parks:
Cities and Towns:
Honorable Mentions:
Big Bend Country & Western Texas
These are the best places for astrophotography and stargazing in Big Bend Country and Western Texas:
State Parks:
Devils River State Natural Area (this is an international dark sky sanctuary)
National Parks:
Cities & Towns:
Honorable Mentions:
The Panhandle & North Texas
These are the best places for night sky photography in the Texas Panhandle:
State Parks:
Honorable Mentions:
Northeast Texas
While Northeast Texas is not known for astrophotography or stargazing, here are a couple places I believe you would be able to get a decent photograph of the night sky:
Honorable Mentions:
Texas Gulf Coast & South Texas
South Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast are also not known for dark skies, however, I believe you would be able to get a decent photograph of the night sky in these places:
Honorable Mentions:
What do you think - did I miss any good ones? Drop a comment to let me know!
I hope my Texas night sky conservation photography guide has been helpful! If you have any specific questions or would like to purchase a print from any of my night sky photographs, please reach out to me here.
The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas,
Snoops Photo
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