Here Are The 18 Most Magnificent Places Across The U.S. To Enjoy Nature At Night

California is hailed as the Golden State, but some of SoCal's brightest and most brilliant colors shine when the sun goes down. The glowing blue waves at Newport Beach happen seasonally and never fail to dazzle. Formerly known as bioluminescence, this is a natural phenomenon created by bioluminescent phytoplankton in the water. Hypnotic and otherworldly, just watching the colorful, undulating waves is enough to make you stop and appreciate the magic and mystery of the sea.

A place that could easily fill an entire bucket list on its own, Joshua Tree National Park is undoubtedly a true Southern California treasure. As a desert wilderness, the park stretches up to 800,000 acres, with the full spectrum of experiences available for the picking. Must-take hikes include the Barker Dam Trail and Panorama Loop, but if you really want to savor the park's total splendor, there's nothing better than a full moon hike at Joshua Tree. Not only is this a fantastic way to beat the heat (summertime highs can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit), but the park’s wild desertscapes transform into something wholly otherworldly in the moonlight, in their stillness and quietude. The Hidden Valley Trail is a popular nighttime hike; just be sure to exercise caution and bring the proper gear to ensure your safety.

While Nevada is best known for the glitz and glam of the Las Vegas lights, the nighttime skies are the state's true star. Great Basin National Park is one of Nevada's greatest treasures; it's not just a place of incredible natural beauty and varied geography, but it's also one of the darkest regions in the country. The preserve was given Dark Sky status in 2016 by the International Dark Sky Association, and if you've ever visited this park at night, you know it's well-earned. Come nightfall, a deep, onyx black seems to blanket the desert landscape, lit only by the glow of an endless sky of stars. This is what the night sky might've looked like before electric light was invented, and stargazing at one of the best Dark Sky Parks in the U.S. is truly an experience for your bucket list.

Sometimes, the most beautiful experiences in life are the most fleeting; moments you simply must take in, fully present and aware, with the knowledge that it's a moment never to be relived again. Case in point: when the Queen of the Night blooms at Arizona's Tohono Chul. A 49-acre oasis in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, Tohono Chul is a paradise for plant lovers. This botanical garden is home to the world’s largest collection of Peniocereus greggii, also known as Queen of the Night. When the summer heat begins to build, the buds of the night-blooming cereus begin to appear. After a period of start-and-stop growth, the buds blossom in a mass blooming on one night between the end of May and late July. It's fleeting, fantastic, and truly worth planning a trip around.

While Utah may be best known for its extraordinary winter recreation, when the sun sets and the moon rises, this state puts on quite a show. Lauded as perhaps the best stargazing site in Utah, Canyonlands National Park offers an experience that's wondrous. For those seeking a bucket-list-level adventure, there are two campsites located within the park. These sites, known as The Needles and Island In The Sky, offer the most impressive stargazing in the state, as well as the chance to watch the sunrise over the canyons in the morning. Canyonlands National Park is one of the best national parks to visit at night.

One of the most iconic places in Texas, Congress Avenue Bridge is a beautiful piece of architecture that spans Lady Bird Lake and is celebrated for, among other things, bats. The bridge opened in 1910 and is best known for sheltering the largest urban bat colony in North America. On summer nights at dusk, you can see over a million bats fly out from underneath the bridge and blanket the sky in a swarm of darkness. It's an experience unlike any other, and the energy and movement of this swarm of fluttering, flying mammals is positively electric.

One of the underrated treasures of the American National Parks, Voyageurs National Park is also one of the best national parks for stargazing. Much of the park is pristine wilderness, and it’s surrounded by nothing but more lakes and woods. The air is relatively clean, and there are no major cities within 100 miles, making the park a superb, or, pardon the pun, stellar stargazing spot.

Tucked away in Alabama’s northwest corner lies a lush sandstone gorge known as Dismals Canyon. This tranquil treasure was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1975, and it’s a desired destination for both locals and visitors from across the country. One of the first things you'll notice is that Dismals Canyon appears more like Middle Earth than the Deep South. Alabama is actually the fourth most biologically diverse state in the nation, and Dismals Canyon is surrounded by one of the few remaining old-growth forests in the state. It's also a place teeming with fascinating fauna, including the rare and elusive insects known as dismalites. During daylight hours, visitors can follow the canyon's 1.5-mile hiking trail that meanders through the beautiful canyon. During nighttime hours, Dismals Canyon offers something truly special - a dismalite night tour. This nocturnal adventure allows visitors to see these enchanting glowworms up close, for a magical experience straight out of a fairy tale.

Have you ever wondered where to see synchronous fireflies? Well, Florida evenings are nothing short of sublime when the heat melts away and the wildlife comes out. Each spring, as the Florida sun sets low in the sky, the nightly firefly show enchants and delights spectators in lush, forested areas like Lake Kissimmee State Park and Blue Spring State Park. Meanwhile, along Eastern Florida's Cape Canaveral, warm summer days give way to a fantastic nighttime spectacle: the bioluminescent dinoflagellates and comb jellies that paint the sea a shockingly neon blue.

Bioluminescence, the production of light by a living organism, is not unique to fireflies. While walking at night at Congaree National Park at various times of the year, you may find other things glowing in the dark, including mushrooms. Some types of fungus glow in the dark and are commonly called foxfire or fairy fire. However, there are several types of fungi that are bioluminescent. These fungi are typically found growing on or in decaying logs and branches lying on the forest floor. While on your night hike, you might even see what looks like a glowing caterpillar crawling along the ground in the dark. This is the larval form of a female beetle from the genus Phrixothrix, and it's a truly magical spectacle to behold.

In the middle of the beautiful Bluegrass State, there is a natural phenomenon that's so rare, it's only experienced at a few places in the world. At Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, you'll find the eponymous Cumberland Falls -- Kentucky's "Niagara of the South" -- a majestic 68-foot waterfall on the Cumberland River. And not only is Cumberland Falls an awe-inspiring force; it's also the site of a rare natural phenomenon. Known as a moonbow, Cumberland Falls is one of the few places on the planet that regularly produces this prismatic phenomenon, created when light is refracted in the waterfall's spraying water droplets. The moonbow lingers above the falls for up to two days as long as the sky is clear, on either end of the full moon. One of the most spectacular and accessible waterfall trails in the country, the Moonbow Trail is a Kentucky bucket list must -- especially at night.

Glowing and graceful, fireflies are Mother Nature's very own tiny dancers. One of the best places to behold this magical nighttime dance is Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Each summer, lucky visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park gather near Elkmont Campground in late May and early June for the park’s brightest, buzziest nightlife: watching rover fireflies light up in their synchronous mating dance. This park is perhaps the most famous place to watch synchronous fireflies work their magic. The park is such a popular spot for firefly gazing, in fact, that officials have set up a lottery system to allow visitors timed access to the park during firefly season, which, if you ask us, is a bucket-list experience worth pursuing.

A region of rugged and untouched beauty, Denali National Park and Preserve is one of the best places to witness the beauty of Alaska's night skies. There are a number of year-round campgrounds located in the park, providing the opportunity to stay and gaze into the skies all night long -- any time of the year. But Denali takes it to another level; this park is a bucket-list destination for stargazing where you'll marvel at some of the most amazing spectacles on the planet, including -- if you're lucky -- the elusive Northern Lights.

To me, manta rays are fascinating creatures that are gentle and each has its own personality. I love the way they swim, and if you've ever dreamed of swimming with mantas, you can do so in Kailua-Kona. Tour operator Hawaii Oceanic offers a Manta Ray Night Snorkel. This 50-minute adventure allows for a nighttime swim with these beautiful sea creatures. Snorkel gear and non-alcoholic beverages are included as well as the 5-minute boat ride to get to the manta ray site and back. Once you arrive, you will have 30-40 minutes of swimming time with the manta rays. It's sure to be a magical journey into the sea!

One of the best ways to experience the wetlands and wildlife of the Florida Everglades has to be with Sawgrass Recreation Park. Known for its epic airboat rides that take passengers through the watery landscape, alligators are usually what people come here to see. And you will certainly see gators in a different light (or lack thereof) on the park's Gator Nights Tour. On this 60-minute nighttime airboat tour, your boat captain will take you to select locations around The Everglades to see a variety of species including insects, amphibians, and reptiles such as gators. Flashlights are used to get that first glimpse of a gator's eyes, and it's an incredible experience to see them at night, from the safety of an airboat, of course!

Curious about taking an airboat tour at Take a look at this video by @OnlyInYourState:

Located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country is where you'll discover the 40-acre Wolf Sanctuary of PA. Home to the only gray wolves in the state, it's a bucket list destination that provides tours and events throughout the year. To see wolves at night, you must book a Full Moon tour. Held on Saturdays closest to the full moon each month, the 2.5-hour event features a bonfire, entertainment, and wolf tours. Once you embark on the self-guided tour route through the sanctuary, volunteers will provide information on the resident wolves as well as wolf conservation efforts.

There's no doubt that Yellowstone National Park is one of the country's top national parks to visit. Whether you spend a day or a week exploring Yellowstone, it's both a magical and memorable place to be. Teeming with wildlife, you may have the opportunity to see elk, wolves, bears, cougars, big-horned sheep, bald eagles, and many more. At night, the park's resident animals are still active, and the 4-hour Evening Wildlife Encounters program will take you to Yellowstone's Northern Range to see what species are roaming around once the sun sets. This is quite a unique look at the park and one that's certainly bucket list-worthy!

With over 10,000 acresThe Wilds is a massive conservation center that protects a number of large exotic species including rhinos, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, and more. One of the best activities The Wilds provides is a Group Sunset Safari. This 2-hour tour includes dinner followed by an adventure through the property's pastures and forests in search of the endangered and protected species as the sunset makes a dramatic backdrop. You'll even make a stop at the Carnivore Center. This is a great way to get a taste of what an African safari is like without leaving the state of Ohio! Tours are offered from June through September, so make plans to visit soon.