Awesome. It's hard to imagine that only a couple years ago we had dark skies everywhere. As an off and on hobby astronomer I'm very happy to see this trend of dark sky consciousness and preservation.
What's crazy to me is how few people have actually seen a proper dark sky.
I tell people about being able to see the milky way streak across the sky in the summer and they're shocked that I didn't need some sort of long exposure camera.
I went rock climbing in red river gorge a few years ago and was able to sleep outside and see the Milky Way. Definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my adult life. Then you drive back to civilization and realize how bad the light pollution is.
I want to second the RRG, KY as a great place to go see the stars. I would recommend you go to the lookout "cloud splitter" great views in all directions. There is also a back entrance to a "secret cave" you can climb through and explore. The cave ends at a big opening in the middle of the cliff and makes for a cool photo (You can see the cave opening at the 1:05 mark in the video). Only about 1.5-2 miles from trail head. Of yeah, and for the love of God please don't carve your name in the rocks! Just because countless assholes have been doing it for years does not make it ok.
The big 2003 blackout coincided with clear skies here in Toronto and was within a couple of days of the Mars close approach. I had trouble understanding why I was the only person I could see looking up. It was almost like Krikkit.
