One person looking up at the Milky Way over the ridge

Star nights above Bend, Oregon

Three hours at the eyepiece, under a sky with no moon in it.

Eight chairs, three telescopes, one very dark ridge. Gus points, you look, and nobody hurries you along.

Book a night See past nights

Clouded out? Your booking moves to the held date free.

This fall

Saturday, October 10 gates 6:45 pm
3 of 8 left
Saturday, November 7 gates 5:30 pm
6 of 8 left
What One night at the eyepiece
When Oct 10 + Nov 7, dark by 7
Where 25 minutes east of Bend
From $60 a place

Guests

Said on the drive down

Dana Whitfield came in June Star night, June 2026

I saw the rings of Saturn with my own eye and made a noise I am not proud of.

Priya Shah booked the private night Private night, August 2026

Gus found my daughter the Andromeda galaxy, then let her drive the big telescope for most of an hour.

Mark Teller has come twice Star nights, 2025 and 2026

It was 39 degrees and I stayed until he packed the last scope. Take the November date - it gets darker.

The package

One price, all in

No tiers, no add-ons, nothing sold at the gate.

One night at the eyepiece

Three hours on the ridge, gates at dusk, never more than eight people.

$60 a place
Three telescopes set up and cooled before you arrive, including the hand-ground 12-inch
A red flashlight that is yours to keep
The night's sky map, printed for your month
Hot chocolate from the big thermos jugs, and blankets that actually work
The cloud promise: a called-off night moves you to the held date free
Kids from age 8 - the step stool lives under the big scope

The dates

Saturday, October 10 gates 6:45 pm - held date Oct 17
3 of 8 left
Saturday, November 7 gates 5:30 pm - held date Nov 14
6 of 8 left

Want the hill to yourselves? A private night for up to eight is a flat $400 - same scopes, your pace.

Book a night

Pay when you book. Cold is not a refund reason - clouds are.

How it goes

From booking to dark

Four steps, none of them complicated.

01 Takes a minute

Book a place

Pick a Saturday and pay for it. That lights one of the eight stars.

02 4:00 pm

The 4 pm call

On the day, one email: go, or clouds. A no moves you to the held date free.

03 25 min out

Find the hill

Directions ride the go email. Twenty-five minutes east of town, pavement all the way, parking at the top.

04 3 hours

Three hours dark

Gates at dusk. Saturn first, while everyone's eyes are still ordinary - it gets better from there.

Questions

Asked every fall

Will we actually see anything?
Yes. Saturn's rings make someone gasp every single night, and on a moonless Saturday the Milky Way is bright enough to read the hill by. What you will not see is anything through cloud - that is what the 4 pm call is for.
Is it cold up there?
It is a good 15 degrees colder than town and you will be standing still. Bring more layers than you think - there are blankets and the thermos jugs, but still: more than you think.
Can kids come?
From age 8, and they are usually the best guests on the hill. The step stool lives under the big telescope for a reason.
Do I need to know anything about the sky?
No. Gus points, you look. Questions are the point of the night, not an interruption.
Can I take pictures?
Of the Milky Way with a newer phone, yes - bring something to prop it on. Through the eyepiece, sort of: Gus will hold your phone steady over it and you keep whatever comes out.
Where exactly is it?
A gravel pull-off on the shoulder of a ridge twenty-five minutes east of Bend, on pavement the whole way. Exact directions come with the go email - the spot stays off the internet so it stays dark.

Your host

The man with the mirror

Gus Fischer, Bend

I machined valve parts in a tooling shop for 24 years, and for the last fifteen I have ground telescope mirrors at my kitchen table - slower work, same idea: patience, abrasive, and checking twice. The 12-inch you will look through took two winters. I have run star nights on this ridge since 2019, and I am still not used to the sound people make at Saturn.

- Gus

The 12-inch, kitchen-table ground, 2009-2011
Based Bend, Oregon
Nights hosted 61 since 2019
Scopes on the hill 3, all his

Book

Pick your night

Requests are answered the same evening, in the order they arrive.

Which night

3 places left on October 10. 6 on November 7. When a night books out, its stars go dark.