2025 Grand Canyon Star Party

YES!  Volunteers are welcomed and greatly appreciated. Please read through the following materials to see if this event is a good fit for you. If so, please reach out to the contacts below.  

Why Volunteer?

This star party is a public out reach. Our goal is to help park visitors experience observing under a pristine dark sky. Inspire them to get involved in sky watching and preserving our night time for future generations. If you enjoy volunteering at your local school or science museum or planetarium, this is a solid week with that kind of reward. As an incentive for volunteering your time, the V.I.P. camp site fees will be waved for volunteer astronomers during the week.

The veranda/lodge area will be available for private viewing after park guests have left for the night. Enjoy some quiet observing time late in the evening.

Volunteering for this particular public star party has many rewards.

• • The star party is held at arguably one of the most beautiful spots on the face of this Earth.
  • Meeting the variety of people from all over the world is a wonderful experience.
  • Showing the young and old the night sky possibly for the first time while standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon is tremendously rewarding for you and enriching for them.
  • Park Visitors will likely remember the view for the rest of their lives!
  • This is not your everyday star party, where else in the world will the daytime views and the night sky from the exact same spot be so unbelievably beautiful, you will never hear more “WOWS” in your life.
  • If you enjoy making someone smile, this is your party. Even in the dark, you can see them smile.

Star Party Objective 

For Volunteers

This star party priority is for the enjoyment of the general public. Second is complying with the rules and regulations of the National Park Service and cooperating with the North Rim Lodge. Last is the volunteer. We are here for the visitors, not for ourselves. To be eligible to attend this event as a volunteer, all you need is a telescope and enough knowledge of that scope and the sky to point at an object and describe it to a visitor. It would be nice if the information is fairly accurate, but close counts.

How to volunteer

Volunteering for the north rim is a bit different than for the south rim.  The south rim has pretty much unlimited space on the field and nearly as much lodging available.  The south rim field is ~49,000 sq. ft. in area, while the north rim veranda is ~3,000 sq. ft.  The total population of the north rim, including staff is in the neighborhood of 400 people.  Yavapai Lodge has 358 guest rooms alone and the park has 5 more lodges.  South rim campground has ~320 campsites, plus 80 spots in Trailer Village.  North Rim campground has 83 sites, total.  Given this stark comparison, it’s necessary to limit the number of volunteers.

Volunteers fall into one of two categories, one that stays for the duration, and one that does not.  Those that stay the week have one of two options.  They can sign up for a free campsite, (more on this later), or they can arrange their own lodging (self lodger), whether it be camping, a cabin or the motel.  I like to make a balance between those staying the week and shuffling the others to avoid gaps in telescope numbers.  Ideally it would balance half and half.  So, if you can stay for the first half, the second half or the middle half, let me know so I can balance the number of telescopes on the field for any given night.

If you choose to arrange your own lodging, regardless of the length of your stay, please follow the following procedure.
First, please check with me.  I’ll let you know, usually the same day, when there’s a gap I can fill.  Then, make your lodging reservations.  North Rim fills up fast, so early reservations are important.  I’ll take reservations until we either have 5 scopes each night or New Year’s Eve, whichever comes first.  Watch this page for updates on availability.  Once you know your room/cabin number, please let me know so I can contact you if I have to. If you arrange your own lodging, you are free to stay as long or as short as you like.

If you choose to stay the week and reserve one of the free campsites, please follow the following procedure.

This year there will be three levels of volunteers, returning from the previous year, current Saguaro Astronomy Club member in good standing and, non S.A.C. volunteers. Any returning volunteer from the previous year will have first priority, S.A.C. members second priority, and non members third priority.

Send an email to Steve Rottas, beginning 1/1/25 0:00:00 MST requesting a spot.  Please include your telescope of choice and the method of camping, (eg. 12” DOB, 4” solar, 14’ Trailer), and if you’d be willing to give a talk.  I will take emails on a first come, first served basis, after the previous years volunteers have accepted or declined participation this year until the veranda is full.  Telescope numbers can depend on size.  We seem to be attracting a lot of “big glass”, thus reducing the amount of space available even more.  I have a plan for this, so not to worry but the priority is to have enough scopes for the public to have a great time viewing, not stand in long lines as best as possible. If you reserve a camp site or cabin for the week, and have to cancel within 30 days of the event, you’ll have to wait a year to be considered again, unless you can come up with a volunteer or someone steps up to replace you.  It just leaves us in a bind for volunteers, and when there’s a limited amount of space available, one absence can have a big impact.