The Best Stargazing Apps for Your Next Dark Sky Camping Trip

Camping and stargazing go together like chocolate and graham crackers during fireside s’mores. The act of watching the cosmos, from shooting stars and planets to the shimmery Milky Way, provides a sense of grounding and awe—and travelers are seeking these enchanting nightscapes now more than ever.

In April 2024, millions traveled to see the total solar eclipse; a month later, sky-gazers watched one of the most powerful solar storms in decades produce northern lights above nearly all 50 states. The latter is a sign of what’s to come as the auroras near their 11-year peak in activity around 2025. Even better: Destinations across the country are enhancing the stargazing experience, with efforts to minimize light pollution and protect those pristine dark skies travelers circle the country to see.

There’s no time like the present to add a stargazing camping trip to your bucket list—and for that, we have you covered. Try the Hipcamp dark sky map layer to overlay a light pollution map with available campsites; avoid areas in yellow for the best star or meteor shower views. Speaking of meteor showers, our latest astronomical calendar spotlights all the interstellar highlights to keep an eye on this year.

And, if you’re looking for a stargazing app to help you navigate the constellations overhead, you’re in the right place. Read on for the best stargazing apps to download before your next camping trip.

How to use apps for stargazing

Sure, top astronomy experts know the night skies by heart, but hobbyists can use stargazing apps to get a leg up with their night-sky scouting, too. Stargazing apps have a host of features to immerse you in the heavens. With augmented reality (AR), stargazers can point their phones skyward for a real-time map of the interstellar highlights overhead; many apps offer not just the names of each star, planet, or nebula, but also cultural beliefs and science surrounding the sights.

The best stargazing apps also include a calendar of upcoming night-sky events, telescope integration, red-screen night vision to protect your eyes, and tools to map the trajectories of sky objects over time. Some even help you plan unique astrophotography shoots, or track the northern lights.

If you’re ready to pair camping and stargazing, here are some of the best astronomy apps to consider.

SkySafari 7 Plus ($9.99)

Also available in the Google Play store

This stargazing app is like a planetarium in your pocket. It offers an AR-enabled sky map with 2.5 million stars, 32,000 deep sky objects, and 7,000 asteroids, comets, and satellites—as well as the history, astronomy, and mythology of many of these sky sights, plus a red-light night mode for unobstructed viewing. 

SkySafari 7 Plus connects to hundreds of different telescopes for guided gazing and features a robust events finder to plot your stargazing adventure. Bring multiple astro enthusiasts into the fun with SkyCast, a feature that lets you guide friends through the night sky via their own SkySafari apps. OneSky also helps you see what other users are viewing in real-time. You don’t need an internet connection for features like the AR map.

Star Walk 2 ($2.99)

Also available in the Google Play store

Admire thousands of stars, constellations, comets, and celestial sights with Star Walk 2, the next iteration of the best-selling stargazing app, Star Walk. The app reads your device’s GPS to share the exact location of interstellar highlights, from popular sights like planets to lesser-known deep-space objects. 

It offers a night mode to keep your eyes primed for the sky, with a “visible tonight” section to help you know what to plan for and when. Use the app’s clock face to toggle between different dates and times so you can determine the best times to keep an eye on the sky.

SkyView Lite (Free with in-app purchases)

Also available in the Google Play store

For a free stargazing app, try SkyView Lite. The app doesn’t require Wi-Fi, GPS, or cellular service, which makes it perfect for backcountry campers. Instead, it uses AR to pinpoint night-sky objects, such as planets or stars, with a time-travel feature to see how the sky will shift over hours or days—a handy tool for planning your stargazing camping trip. Set in-app reminders so you don’t miss a celestial event.

Sky Guide (Free with in-app purchases)

Like many of the best stargazing apps, Sky Guide works by pointing your phone skyward for a dynamic map of constellations, planets, satellites, and stars. The app helps you learn the constellations by overlaying figures, such as a bear over Ursa Major, known as the Great Bear constellation. Sky Guide can function without Wi-Fi, cellular service, or GPS—perfect for off-grid camping. It also suggests location-filtered nightscape events, such as solar or lunar eclipses.

SpaceWeatherLive (Free)

Also available in the Google Play store

In addition to stargazing-specific apps, it’s important to have a northern lights app handy—particularly as aurora activity picks up in the coming months. Space Weather Live is arguably the best aurora-hunting app out there. 

Use it to track real-time and predicted aurora activity, get news about potential upcoming sightings, and monitor maps of the auroral oval (the zone of lights activity). The app’s night mode will keep your eyes ready for aurora sightings, too. Wi-Fi or cellular service is required.

PhotoPills ($10.99)

Also available in the Google Play store

If there’s one astrophotography app stargazers swear by, it’s PhotoPills, a dynamic photography planning tool that lets you determine the position of objects like the sun, moon, and Milky Way to bring your envisioned images to life. Use the app, which can function offline, to determine the rising path of, say, a supermoon. Then, use the map’s navigation lines to scout a photography location where the rising supermoon will align with an interesting landscape or scene, such as a lighthouse or mountain. 

The app also includes times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, twilight, and golden and blue hour, as well as the best time to see the vivid Milky Way core. For beginners, the app may be a bit daunting, but PhotoPills’ user guides will help you navigate it—and capture stellar night-sky images—like a pro. 

Leave it better on your stargazing trip

When darkness descends, Leave No Trace principles are as important as ever. Stick to the trails, pack out everything that you carry in for your stargazing outing, and respect local wildlife. Never shine your flashlight directly in an animal’s eyes, as it can temporarily blind them. 

Use a red-light flashlight or headlamp, or attach red cellophane to your flashlight, to help your eyes adjust to the darkness while minimizing disruptions to others. It can take human eyes up to 30 minutes to readjust to darkness after exposure to bright white light; deep red lights don’t have this effect.

More stargazing resources for your next camping trip

• The Hipcamp Stargazing Guide and Astronomical Calendar
• Stargazing 101: How to View the Night Sky
• Tips for Long Exposure Night Sky Photography
• Your 2024 Meteor Shower and Camping Guide