Robert Ferguson Observatory Reviews

We camped at Sugarloaf and, with luck, happened to be there on a "star party" weekends. Dedicated volunteer docents gave short, interesting talks about stars (on the weekend we were there, there was a talk about pulsars, one about star life cycles, and one about the constellations in the sky that evenings), and there were 3 main telescopes that we could look through. The line was too long for the telescope in the dome area, but we checked out the large (24" I believe) telescope to see a galaxy with approximately 250M stars, and looked at the 8" telescope with a camera attached. We were able to see an amazing spiral galaxy through it, as well as several nebulae. All the volunteers were unbelievably well-informed. We chose not to stick around long enough to look through the other telescopes in the parking lot (brought by more dedicated volunteers). The $3/person entry fee was a bargain for this amazing experience. Highly recommended. There were lots of families with children there, as well as older couples, and a few 20/30 somethings like ourselves (point being - it's appropriate for everyone).

I stumbled upon RFO while looking for kid friendly activities in wine country. I had just Mike Brown's "How I killed Pluto ..." so was instantly interested. What I found was an amazingly nice, helpful and knowledgable community of amateur scientists who were enthusiastically offering the most active and hands-on astronomy experience available in Northern California in a hidden gem of a state park. Ended up taking three sessions of their Night Sky series so I could learn all the constellations visible in the Northern Hemisphere - would become a docent myself if I lived closer. Enjoyed the venus transit two years ago there too. Website is user friendly - star parties one Saturday a month can be very busy but worth it!

You can walk from the Sun to Pluto at the Robert Ferguson Observatory by turning onto Adobe Canyon Road from Highway 12. There you will find PlanetWalk, a 1:2.36 billion scale model of our solar system. Even at this scale, the roundtrip walk covers some 4½ miles. The trail was badly damaged in the 2017 fires but has been restored. The observatory is home to all 3 basic telescope types, the largest being a 40-inch reflector. “Star parties,” which start at dusk, are offered throughout the year. Admission charge is just $3.00/person; parking is $8.00/vehicle.