Steinaker State Park
A Bureau of Reclamation reservoir on the edge of Vernal, certified for the sky people can actually reach.
Uinta Basin · Ashley Valley · Vernal
State Park 1,750 acres 5,700 ft high point Est. 1969 Utah Division of State Parks Dark Sky Park
Overview
Steinaker is a reservoir park a few miles north of Vernal, in the Uinta Basin — water-skiing, bass fishing, a campground, and, since 2018, an International Dark Sky Park certification. It does not pretend to be Goosenecks. Its own survey puts the SQM-L average at 21.26 and its Bortle class at 4, which is a rural-to-suburban transition sky. What it has is proximity: it is the dark sky that the Uinta Basin can get to on a weeknight. It is also worth noting who its neighbour is — Vernal is the same town whose light dome the Park Service blames for Dinosaur National Monument's Bortle 3-4, forty miles east.
Getting in
When to go
Best: May, Jun, Sep
A summer water park with a dark-sky certification. Autumn nights are the best combination of clear and comfortable.
Safety & conditions
Activities
Stargazing
Certified 2018. Bortle 4, SQM-L 21.26 — a rural/suburban transition sky, five miles from Vernal. The dark sky the Uinta Basin can reach on a weeknight.
Season: Year-round; new-moon best.
Camping
A campground on the reservoir.
Regs: Reservable through Utah State Parks.
Fishing
Largemouth bass, bluegill and stocked trout.
Hiking
Short shoreline and bench trails.
Night Sky
Dark Sky Park Certified 2018 Bortle 4 21.26 mag/arcsec²
Bortle 4 — a rural/suburban transition sky, and the park says so. Vernal is five miles south and it is the dominant light. What moves the number: moon, and the town.
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 3: Civilization Beyond the Rim
On the far side of the reservoir on a clear moonless night, with the water between you and Vernal.
Geology
Uinta Basin sedimentary country — the same rocks that make Dinosaur National Monument famous, forty miles east.
Province: Uinta Basin
Rock types: sandstone, shale
Major formations
Ecology
Biomes: sagebrush steppe; reservoir shoreline
Flora
- sagebrush
- greasewood
Fauna
- mule deer
- waterfowl
- largemouth bass and bluegill in the reservoir
A working reservoir with a recreation park around it.
History
The Uinta Basin is within the ancestral homeland of the Ute people, and the Uintah and Ouray Reservation lies immediately west; that relationship continues today. Steinaker Reservoir was built by the Bureau of Reclamation and the state park opened in 1969.
Modern issues
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Vernal
Status: ongoing
Five miles south, and the same light dome the NPS blames for Dinosaur National Monument's Bortle 3-4.