The core clears 10 degrees during full darkness on most nights from February to October. In January, November and December it's out of reach, either too close to the Sun or too low in the dark.
Core score by month
| Month | Core score | Best week | Moon-free core hours a night | Average cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | No moon-free core hours | 0 | 55% |
| February | 15 | February 10 to 16 | 1.2 | 50% |
| March | 34 | March 10 to 16 | 2.6 | 47% |
| April | 50 | April 6 to 12 | 3.9 | 48% |
| May | 45 | May 3 to 9 | 5.2 | 54% |
| June | 31 | June 1 to 7 | 6.5 | 69% |
| July | 38 | July 1 to 7 | 6.3 | 62% |
| August | 38 | August 1 to 7 | 4.2 | 62% |
| September | 21 | September 21 to 27 | 2.4 | 65% |
| October | 12 | October 18 to 24 | 1.1 | 53% |
| November | 0 | No moon-free core hours | 0 | 46% |
| December | 0 | Core not visible | 0 | 53% |
Times are for the best seven nights in each month. Moon-free means the moon is below the horizon. The core counts as visible above 10 degrees in full darkness, when the Sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon.
The best nights in 2027
- April: April 9 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 1:53 am to 5:43 am, with the moon 12% lit that night.
- May: May 7 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 12:03 am to 5:13 am, with the moon 4% lit that night.
- July: July 1 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 9:53 pm to 4:33 am, with the moon 5% lit that night.
Clock times are Eastern time with daylight saving applied. The best nights fall around the new moon, so the dates shift by about 11 days each year.
About Everglades National Park
Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, a slow river of grass, mangroves and cypress swamps in southern Florida. It's home to alligators, manatees, wading birds and the rare Florida panther. You explore it by boat, canoe or short boardwalk trails.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote The Everglades: River of Grass in 1947, the year the park was dedicated. She spent decades fighting for the area. The park was authorized in 1934. It's both a World Heritage Site and a Wetland of International Importance.
Everglades National Park is a national park in Florida. The National Park Service places its center at 25.37 degrees north and 80.88 degrees west, and the sky calculations on this page use that point. Visitor information, fees and alerts are on the park's own page. National Park Service (opens in a new tab).
How Everglades National Park compares
Its best monthly core score of 50 ranks 31 of 54 national park units that can see the core. The highest is Lassen Volcanic National Park at 86, and the lowest is Voyageurs National Park at 13. Cloud at Everglades National Park runs from 46% in November to 69% in June.
The score ranks months and parks. It isn't a forecast for any night, and it leaves out local weather, smoke and light from nearby towns. How the core score works.
How dark is the sky?
The Park Service models how much artificial light brightens the sky across the lower 48. At the point used for Everglades National Park, it puts the added glow at about 1.3 times the natural brightness of a moonless sky (a ratio of 1.329). That makes it 38th darkest of the 47 parks it covers. Lower is darker. This is a model, not a reading taken at the park, and it describes one point, so the edges of a large park can differ.
Questions people ask
When is the best time to see the Milky Way at Everglades National Park?
April, May and July are the best months. The best week of 2027 is April 6 to 12.
Can you see the Milky Way at Everglades National Park all year?
The core clears 10 degrees during full darkness on most nights from February to October. In January, November and December it's out of reach, either too close to the Sun or too low in the dark.
How dark is the sky at Everglades National Park?
The Park Service models how much artificial light brightens the sky across the lower 48. At the point used for Everglades National Park, it puts the added glow at about 1.3 times the natural brightness of a moonless sky (a ratio of 1.329). That makes it 38th darkest of the 47 parks it covers. Lower is darker. This is a model, not a reading taken at the park, and it describes one point, so the edges of a large park can differ.
Does the moon matter at Everglades National Park?
Yes. A bright moon hides the Milky Way. The best night in April is April 9, when the moon is 12% lit and the core is above 10 degrees from 1:53 am to 5:43 am.
