· History of Goldendale Observatory ·

The famous 24.5" reflecting telescope after its 2017 Newtonian conversion

The unlikely story of Goldendale Observatory starts with the main telescope, which was the brainchild of four Vancouver, Washington-area amateur astronomers who designed and built the instrument in the 1960's over a period of six years with help from Clark College and its students. Vancouver's light pollution and cloudy weather precluded siting the telescope in that area; the builders' search for a better spot eventually led them to Goldendale, Washington. The telescope was formally donated after the town agreed to build a public science center to house the instrument. 

Two of the three Eclipses: Left 1918. Right 1979.

Goldendale Observatory State Park Heritage Site is a 5-acre facility 2,100 feet above sea level and 2 miles north of Goldendale, WA. The observatory and its large public telescope have attracted hundreds of thousands of sky-watchers since 1973.​

The founders on opening day, October 13th, 1973. Front: Don Conner. Back, left to right: John Marshall, O.W. VanderVelden, and M.W. McConnell.

Goldendale, WA was not a random selection: The town had been the site of an important (but unsuccessful) experiment in 1918 to prove Einstein's new theory of relativity during a total solar eclipse. The founders knew that another eclipse was coming to the area in 1979, and yet another in 2017; observatory visitors witnessed both events exactly as intended.

Visitation of Goldendale Observatory State Park has dramatically increased in recent years; it is not unusual for hundreds of visitors to arrive on a single Summer evening. From 2013 to 2019, multiple phases of an expansive facility upgrade project were funded by the Washington State Legislature. After surviving numerous delays and a dramatic state budget freeze, the project has continued and is on track. Please monitor the upgrade page for updates and details. 

Before and after images of observatory floor plan.

Real image of Milky Way taken from Goldendale in 2019 by facility administrator Troy Carpenter. Please do not use without permission.

Goldendale Washington features beautifully dark skies and the city has taken steps to make them even darker with the installation of full-cutoff and dimmable LED street lamps. In 2010 the Observatory was awarded Dark Sky Park status by the International Dark-Sky Association due to the efforts of its former administrator Steve Stout and local amateur astronomers. However, the silver-tier status was perceived as potentially too generous and the requirements attached to the status were not a good fit with WA State Parks operating policy; the dark sky status was ultimately rescinded in 2017. New area parks management are working closely with the IDA, local businesses, and community leaders to apply for an IDA status which acknowledges the darkness of the site but does not require parks staff to behave in an activist or legislative capacity. For more information on this topic, please contact Goldendale Observatory or Dark Skies Northwest, the Northwest chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association.