When the lights go down, the universe puts on a show. The image of the Milky Way glowing above Anza-Borrego Desert State Park captures that feeling perfectly. As California's largest state park and a certified International Dark-Sky Association Dark Sky Park, Anza-Borrego offers some of the clearest night skies in the country. On cloudless evenings, the heavens fill with planets, star clusters and the pale river of our home galaxy, a sight long lost to many city dwellers.

Established in 1932 and named for Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word 'borrego' (bighorn sheep), the park protects over 2,400 square kilometres of desert canyons, badlands and palm oases. Spring can transform the landscape with wildflower blooms, while desert bighorn sheep, kit foxes, roadrunners and kangaroo rats roam its rugged terrain. In a place this wild and quiet, the stars feel almost close enough to touch.