Best of the City 2026: Best Out-of-This-World Community Observatory
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this free observatory has shared stellar views of the night sky for countless stargazers, rocketing it onto our list of the people, places and things that we’ve loved this year. Here's one of our picks for Best of the City 2026.
We city folk might think we see the stars when we look up at night, but urban light pollution obscures the vast majority of celestial objects. Make the drive up Highway 50 to the Placerville Community Observatory (elevation: 1,600 feet above sea level), though, and it’s a whole new world, offering views bursting with starlight. Located next to the El Dorado Center campus of Folsom Lake College, this stargazing spot hosts a handful of high-powered telescopes that are manned by knowledgeable docents who will offer you close-up views of various planets, constellations and more. (We saw Jupiter and its four Galilean moons during our recent visit, for example.) There’s also an open-air “sky theater” where a docent will guide you through the heavenly highlights. The observatory, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is open and free (except $2 for parking) to the public on Fridays and Saturdays—this fall, each night’s viewing time is 9–11 p.m. until November, at which point earlier sunsets push the window up to 7:30–9:30 p.m. (Pro tips: The facility closes for rain and heavy cloud cover, so check the calendar on its website after 3 p.m. the day you plan to go to see if that evening’s event has been canceled. And just type “Community Observatory,” not its address, into your phone’s map or GPS for more accurate guidance.) Be sure to mark your calendar for Sept. 19, when the observatory takes part in NASA’s International Observe the Moon Night. Others may promise you the moon, but this observatory actually delivers. communityobservatory.com
Photo by Max Whittaker
Photo by Max Whittaker
READ MORE: Pick up our Fall Issue for the full Best of the City 2026 list
