Rockport State Park
A Weber River reservoir at 6,000 feet, half an hour from Park City, certified 2021.
Wasatch Back · Weber River · Summit County
State Park 1,078 acres 6,300 ft high point Est. 1966 Utah Division of State Parks Dark Sky Park
Overview
Rockport is a reservoir on the Weber River at 6,000 feet, in the rolling country between Park City and Coalville. There was a town called Rockport here; it is under the water. The park is a summer boating and fishing destination that happens to hold a decent night sky — Bortle 4, SQM-L averaging 21.30 across ten sites, which the park's own application notes falls within the Silver Tier range. It is thirty minutes from Park City and about an hour from Salt Lake City, and that proximity is the point: this is a usable sky for a very large number of people.
Getting in
When to go
Best: Jun, Jul, Sep
Summer for the water; autumn for the sky. It is 6,000 feet, so the nights are cold in any season.
Safety & conditions
Activities
Stargazing
Certified 2021. Bortle 4, SQM-L 21.30 across ten sites — which the park's own application notes falls in the Silver Tier range. Thirty minutes from Park City.
Season: Year-round; new-moon best.
Camping
Several campgrounds around the reservoir.
Regs: Reservable through Utah State Parks.
Fishing
Trout, bass and perch; ice fishing in winter.
Hiking
Shoreline and bench trails.
Night Sky
Dark Sky Park Certified 2021 Bortle 4 21.30 mag/arcsec² across 10 sites
Bortle 4 — rural/suburban transition. Rockport sits in an open valley rather than a slot canyon, so it has less shelter than East Canyon and it shows. Park City is thirty minutes away and the Wasatch Front is over the hill. What moves it: moon, season, and inversions.
What the sky does here
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Typical
Bortle Class 4: The Contested Sky
Under a Class 4 sky, the Milky Way remains visible overhead, but obvious light domes occupy parts of the horizon. Wilderness and development are both present, and the emotional experience changes depending on which direction a person faces.
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Only when
Bortle Class 5: Wilderness with an Address
On a winter inversion night, or looking south-west toward Park City and the pass over to the Salt Lake valley.
Geology
Open Wasatch Back sediments — a broader valley than East Canyon, and correspondingly less sheltered.
Province: Wasatch Range — Middle Rocky Mountains
Rock types: sandstone, conglomerate, shale
Major formations
Also present: Echo Canyon Conglomerate
Ecology
Biomes: sagebrush steppe; Gambel oak; riparian along the Weber
Flora
- sagebrush
- Gambel oak
- cottonwood
Fauna
- mule deer
- moose
- osprey
- bald eagle in winter
Weber River corridor — a genuine wildlife route.
History
The Weber Valley is within the ancestral homeland of the Shoshone and Ute peoples, whose relationship to this country continues. The town of Rockport was settled in the 1860s and flooded in the 1950s when the dam was built; the state park followed in 1966.
Modern issues
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Park City and Wasatch Back growth
Status: ongoing
An open valley rather than a sheltered canyon, thirty minutes from Park City, in one of the fastest-growing corners of Utah.