Calaveras Big Trees State Park is located 120 miles (194 km) east of San Francisco, northeast of Stockton and 4 miles (6 km) northeast of Arnold on Highway 4. The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset, but the facility maintains an astronomy program with regularly-scheduled sky viewing events; this is run entirely by volunteer docents, with significant investment by the Calaveras Big Trees Association. As an EarthSky friend said, the park lies “just 2 1/2 hours from the lights of San Francisco Bay. Has beautiful forests and clearings where you can actually see the stars. We’ve seen Orion, the two Bears and so much more.”
Deborah Byrd
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About the Author:
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.