Wimberley Valley

The cities of Wimberley and Woodcreek (collectively known as “Wimberley Valley”) are neighboring incorporated municipalities in Hays County, Texas, U.S., that are home to around 14,000 people. Wimberley Valley serves as an exurb of the greater Austin-San Antonio region, and its economy is strongly rooted in tourism in the surrounding Hill Country of central Texas which hosts a diversity of native plant and animal species.  Inspired by the success of the nearby city of Dripping Springs, a group of volunteers formed the Wimberley Valley Dark Sky Committee in 2015, achieving designation as a Dark Sky Community by the International Dark-Sky Association in 2018.  With skies rating approximately at class 4 in the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, the community has enacted ordinances designed to maximize the stargazing advantages in this rural area.  An EarthSky fan shared the following with us: “I have quite a naked-eye view of the Milky Way from my driveway apron.”