Last year, the travel craze was for solar eclipse destinations. This year, the opportunities are a little more…explosive. Yep, we’re talking blazing hunks of comets, aka meteor showers, which will be especially brilliant this spring. Astrotourism—aka stargazing vacations—continues to gain popularity, and the upcoming Eta Aquariids meteor showers, predicted to start mid-April through mid-May 2025, are going to be a bucket-list worthy trip, with potentially dozens of clear meteors visible per hour, thanks to the peak happening during a waning moon.
The 5 Best U.S. Places to View the Eta Aquariids Meteor Showers in 2025
Adjust your eyes and be amazed
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Published Apr 16, 2025
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What Are the Eta Aquariids Meteors?
Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. When comets orbit around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them. Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky. The Eta Aquariids meteor shower results from debris left by Halley’s comet, which won’t itself be visible to us again until 2061.
Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images
When Is It?
According to the American Meteor Society, the span of the Eta Aquariids shower is April 19th, 2025 to May 28th, 2025. The shower’s peak is on the night of May 5, 2025, when the moon will be 64 percent full; however, viewing conditions just before dawn, when the moon has already set but the sky is still dark, will be optimum for medium rates of 10 to 30 visible trains per hour just before dawn.(Note, according to NASA, meteor trains are “incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor.”)
What’s the Best Way to View It?
Due to the comet trail’s positioning in the sky, the best place to see the show for people in the U.S. is in the southern half of the country. There, you’ll be able to see 10 to 20 meteors per hour, low on the horizon under a dark sky. So finding a light-free place to view it, then setting your alarm for a few hours before the sunrise, is the best strategy. Here are a set of Dark Sky Places (outdoor spots devoted to limiting artificial nighttime light) that are southern enough in the U.S. to get the best meteor viewing for the eta Aquariids Meteor Shower in 2025. And note: Earthsky says heightened meteor activity will be observable both before and after peak shower time (for you exact types, that’s 15 UTC on May 5), so don’t stress if your vacay time isn’t exactly on that day.
The Best US Destinations for Meteor Viewing
1. Death Valley (California)
Death valley is far enough south to see the meteors, as well as easterly enough to avoid the coastal lights of developed California. It has some of the darkest skies in North America and has private homes and luxe hotels to choose from. And through May, you’re good to visit since the weather has not yet turned deadly hot. As with all isolated lands (aka, areas without light pollution) check with the national park service or other local intel before driving out, to make sure you’re not impeded or imperiled by a closed road.
Places to Stay:
Tiny home in Lone Pine, California (2 guests, from $194/night); Entire home in Amargosa Valley, Nevada (4 guests, from $236/night); Death Valley Hot Springs Airstream (2 guests, from $115/night)
2. Big Bend National Park (Texas)
This section of West Texas is Dark Sky-certified and so far south you’re practically in Mexico. It's a land of bobcats, burrowing mammals and rivers cutting through limestone canyons. Hiking, four-wheeling and epic birdwatching are some of your daytime activities, while at night, it’s just you and the Milky Way.
Places to Stay:
Pickleball Cabin with Outdoor Kitchen (2 guests, $180/night); Shipping container in Terlingua (2 guests, from $243/night); Willow Mountain Vista in Terlingua (5 guests; $410/night)
3. Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (Florida)
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is under three hours from major population centers (7 million Floridians live within a three-hour drive) but you’ll feel you're way more isolated. It's as though you've jumped back in time to the pre-development days when the Florida dry prairie ecosystem was still intact. Recognized as Florida’s first Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association in 2016, the lack of light pollution as well as preponderance of sawgrass and alligators make this a step into Old Florida. You’re two hours south of Disney here, as well as an hour and 15 minutes from Vero Beach, an especially lovely, quiet and upscale beach community.
Places to Stay:
Okeechobee cottage in a hammock (8 guests; from $205/night); Riverfront Beach Retreat in Melbourne Fl (2 guests, from $271/night); Casita Luna guesthouse in Ft. Pierce, FL (2 guests, from $100/night)
4. Joshua Tree National Park (California)
You’re headed for the eastern edge of the park, away from the lights of Palm Springs and Morongo, in this biodiverse park known for its namesake, a Yucca plant that grows treelike with arms reaching skyward. Hiking, rock climbing and yes, great dining in Palm Springs are part of the fun here.
Places to Stay:
Sauna Retreat Home with Pool (8 guests, from $338/night); Artist home with fire pit (6 guests, from $190/night); Joshua Tree home tub home (2 guests, from $178/night)
5. Stephen C Foster State Park (Florida)
This is the largest blackwater wetland in the South, with Spanish moss-laced trees and cypress knees jutting upward from swamp waters. Paddle past alligators, turtles, black bears, deer, ibis, storks and more red- in the 438,000-acre park…and at night, gaze up to very dark skies. The nearest town is 45 minutes away, so you may as well stay in Fernandina Beach over on the Florida Coast, an hour and 45 minutes away, and get the best of the southeast in one trip.
Places to Stay:
Fernandina Beach guesthouse (2 guests, from $185/night), Charming cottage with bunk beds in Fernandina Beach (4 guests, fraom $200/night); 5-Minute Walk to Beach Condo (4 guests, from $330/night)
