The abandoned observatory in Tucson that killed my night sky trust

I drove out to the old Kitt Peak side road last month with my telescope, you know, the one everyone says is perfect for spotting satellites. But what happened there made me stop trusting any dark sky map, period. There was this rusted sign near the gate that said 'restricted access' but the fence was wide open, so I set up anyway. Two hours in, a security truck rolled up and the guy told me I was on private land and that the 'public observation area' closed in 2008. He pointed to a faded map on the side of the building and it showed the real spot was 6 miles north, not where every online forum claims. I packed up and drove there, and honestly, the sky was way better, no light dome from the city at all. Has anyone else found that the popular stargazing spots online are just outdated or flat out wrong?

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umaadams21d ago

Maps get outdated all the time, but one wrong signpost doesn't mean every dark sky site is a lie. You still found a better spot six miles north, so the internet wasn't completely useless, just off by a bit. Sounds more like a mildly annoying detour than a reason to swear off stargazing forever.