Natural Bridges is remote and not a large park and does not get tons of visitors, it does not have the potential of a Bryce, Canyon Lands or Capital Reef to attract visitors but unlike some Parks the Ranger staff was very accommodating and happy to have us there, that's important to me. From our experience with Bryce I think we know very well that having the support of the Ranger staff makes all the difference, Bryce being an example of tremendous support as such the Bryce Star Party has become a terrific event. For that reason the trip to Natural Bridges was worth it and the event worthwhile. The facilities could probably support up to about 20 scopes although 6 - 12 or so would be more realistic because of limited accommodations in the park for both astronomers and visitors. That's probably the right number for this park. There was quite a bit of talk about the Grand Canyon Star party and the rangers from AZ were interested to see that grow and get some fresh blood as well, I think they were impressed with small but knowledgeable and enthusiastic SLAS contingent. There are other opportunities in AZ as well, we agreed we would discuss it further. Message: 2 Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 11:21:54 -0700 From: <zaurak@digis.net> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <20080903112154.2569B564@resin11.mta.everyone.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" The small size of Natural Bridges seems the problem with holding public events there. If we got the turn out of Bryce there would be no room for visitors. As I recall, the nearest hotel is a good distance, Blanding, as Robert mentioned. It is dark but can only accommodate small groups, and long distance for a weekend trip. The Rangers at Island in the Sky seemed peeved when SLAS took over the campground there.Did anyone mention the Grand Canyon Star Party to the Northern Arizona people. Not the one on the North Rim but the South Rim, they get a pretty good turn out there.