Grand Canyon Star Party | Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association

The Grand Canyon Star Party (GCSP)is held on the South Rim in northern Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park in June every year around the time of the new moon. Visitors to the Park and to the Star Party are afforded the unique opportunity to view the beauty of a pristine night sky through the wide variety of telescopes, binoculars and astrophotography equipment brought to the event by volunteer astronomers from across North America.

The Star Party field has between 50 and 75 different telescopes each night and visitors may wander the viewing field looking at, and through, some of the best telescopic equipment available to the amateur world. The skies at the Grand Canyon are beyond compare. The Milky Way will be spread out like a curtain of light and Planets, Stars, Galaxies and Nebulae will be readily visible. The Grand Canyon Star Party is co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association.

GCSP 2025

The 2025 Grand Canyon Star Party is scheduled for June 21 – 28, 2025.

Astronomer Volunteer Registration is open. Registration will close one week prior to event start (June 14, 2025).

Information about the Star Party from the National Park Service here

All VOLUNTEER AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS must register using below information to attend. Interested public of all ages are invited and no registration is required! A visit to the breathtaking Grand Canyon is an unforgettable and fabulous vacation for families, singles, and seniors. Add a week of dark Arizona skies, lots of friends, fun, and astronomy education, and you have a recipe for perfection!

Volunteer Registration Information

For more information for the South Rim star party please contact:

GCSP Team
Coordinator: Bernie Sanden
Registrar: Gary Wells
Campground Coordinator: Mae Smith
Lead Ranger: Rader Lane

Mail:
GCSP Registrar
Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association
P.O. Box 41254
Tucson, AZ 85717

Registrar E-mail: gcsp-registrar[at]tucsonastronomy.org
General Information or to contact the team: gcsp[at]tucsonastronomy.org

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. Also visit the excellent National Park Services star party site. And here is a time lapse video taken by past TAAA member Dean Ketelsen at the 2011 event and a GCSP 2022 Timelapse from Bob Rose.

Or to RSVP for the North Rim star party please contact:

Steve Rottas, Saguaro Astronomy Club
Coordinator, Grand Canyon Star Party, North Rim

E-mail: gcnrspcoordinator[at]saguaroastro[dot]org

North Rim GCSP Information