While the mission to restore and protect the night skies go on, some of those seeking the darkest skies head out to explore the wonders of the Southwest USA through its amazing dark sky places.

Here is my view of Dark Sky Destinations in the Southwest US at Elizabeth Mitchell's About.com site, Southwest US Travel.

Southwest destinations included here are:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Utah

The Southwest offers destinations with some of the darkest, most transparent night skies in the world. Visitors are priviledged to have a wide array of choices for enjoying those dark sky destinations. They range from observatories, protected places and bed and breakfast inns to viewing opportunities provided by dark rangers and their "star tours" and star parties open to the public.