Dark-sky campground Hedgeway Farm, Long Quietby
Pitch up. Lights down. Look up.
A campground on the top field of a sheep farm, with no streetlights for six miles. Pitch before dark, walk the hedge at dusk, then spend the night at the telescopes with a guide who knows where to point them.
Your night, hour by hour
See the whole night before you book it
This is an October night at Openfield. In summer it all starts later and the dark is shorter; the walk always leaves fifteen minutes after sunset, and we text you the times the day before.
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4:30 pm Arrive
Park at the barn, borrow a wheelbarrow for your gear and pitch while it’s still light.
Pitches from $32 a night
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6:45 pm Dusk walk
A slow lap of the hedge with your guide while your eyes adjust. Red flashlights lent at the barn.
Part of the guided night
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8:15 pm Telescopes
Three telescopes on the level pad by the pond, a guide at each, until the last of you has had enough.
$24 adult, $12 under 16
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11 pm Sleep under the stars
The field goes quiet. Leave the tent door tied back: Cassiopeia is straight overhead.
Bell tent $115, sky bed $165
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6:40 am First light
Coffee from the barn hatch while the hedge goes gray, then gold. Checkout is 11 am.
Coffee $3.50
Hold a pitch for your night Held for 48 hours, no card needed.
Arrive and pitch
Choose your patch of sky
The field falls gently south, so every pitch looks over the hedge to an open southern horizon. Prices are per night for two; each extra person is $8.
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Hedge pitch
$36 a night
Along the hawthorn on the west side, out of the evening breeze. Your own tent, with an electric hookup at every other pitch.
Choose a hedge pitch -
Open pitch
$32 a night
Mid-field, with nothing between you and the sky. The widest view on the farm, and the heaviest dew by morning.
Choose an open pitch -
Bell tent
$115 a night
Sixteen feet of canvas, a double bed and two singles, wool blankets and a lantern with a red setting. Sleeps four.
Choose a bell tent -
Sky bed
$165 a night
A raised double bed on the south brow, under a canopy that rolls back. The guided night is included. Sleeps two.
Choose a sky bed
The telescope pad: level gravel from the track to the pond, where every guided night happens.
The dusk walk
Twenty minutes to see in the dark
Your eyes need about twenty minutes away from bright light before they open fully to the night. The walk takes twenty minutes.
The same patch of sky around Cassiopeia as your eyes adjust. Nothing up there changes. You do.
The field
Openfield is the top field of Hedgeway Farm, a sheep farm on the rise above Long Quietby. Nightjar Lane has no streetlights, the nearest town glow sits behind Quietby Hill to the northeast, and the field falls away to the south, so the southern sky clears the hedge almost to the ground.
The walk
Your guide meets you at the gate fifteen minutes after sunset. You follow the hedge together, slowly, with red flashlights pointed at your boots. By the pond the first stars are out. By the telescope pad most of them are, and nobody has told you to look up yet.
Four rules for light, kept by everyone
- Low beams after the cattle guard, and no driving on the field after 8 pm.
- Red light only once the sun is down. Flashlights are lent free at the barn.
- Lanterns on red after the walk. Every bell-tent lantern has the setting.
- No campfires. Firelight washes out the faint stars for the whole field. Gas stoves are fine.
Telescopes
Join up this season’s stars
Pick a season, then hover over or tap each star to join it to its neighbors. These are the patterns your guide starts with, and each leads to something we will put in the big telescope.
Looking south · 10 pm · April
Spring · March to May
Leo, the Lion
- Where
- High in the south by 10 pm in April.
- Find it
- The Sickle, a backwards question mark ending at Regulus, with a triangle of stars for the tail.
- In the telescope
- Algieba splits into two golden stars sitting almost close enough to touch.
- Guided nights
- Fridays and Saturdays, telescopes from 9:15 pm.
The lines show how the nine stars join.
That’s Leo. On a clear April night, Algieba is the first thing we show you.
Looking straight up · midnight · August
Summer · June to August
Cygnus, the Swan
- Where
- Overhead at midnight in August, flying down the Milky Way.
- Find it
- The Northern Cross: Deneb at the top, Albireo at the foot, wings out either side of Sadr.
- In the telescope
- Albireo becomes two stars, one gold and one blue. It is our first target on summer nights.
- Guided nights
- Fridays and Saturdays, telescopes from 10:45 pm. Dark by 11 pm.
The lines show how the seven stars join.
That’s Cygnus. Albireo is waiting at the foot of the cross.
Looking east · 9 pm · October
Fall · September to November
Pegasus and Andromeda
- Where
- The Great Square climbs the east by 9 pm in October.
- Find it
- Four stars in a wide square, with Andromeda’s chain running off the top corner.
- In the telescope
- Hop from Mirach up past Mu Andromedae. The gray smudge beyond is the Andromeda Galaxy, about 2.5 million light years away.
- Guided nights
- Fridays and Saturdays, telescopes from 8:15 pm.
The lines show how the seven stars join.
That’s the Great Square and Andromeda. Follow the dotted hop to the galaxy.
Looking south · 10 pm · January
Winter · December to February
Orion, the Hunter
- Where
- Rising at dusk, due south by 10 pm in January.
- Find it
- Three stars in a row for the belt, orange Betelgeuse at one shoulder, blue-white Rigel at the opposite knee.
- In the telescope
- The middle star of the sword is a glowing cloud, the Orion Nebula, with four young stars at its heart.
- Guided nights
- Fridays and Saturdays, telescopes from 6:30 pm. Dress for frost.
The lines show how the eight stars join.
That’s Orion. The soft glow under the belt is the nebula.
Under the stars
Before you come
What if it’s cloudy?
We check the forecast at 3 pm the day you arrive. If there is no clear hour in it, we text you: move your night for free, or keep the pitch and join the slide talk in the barn instead.
How cold does it get?
Colder than you think. Even in August the field drops to about 46°F by 2 am, and clear nights are the coldest. Bring a hat and one more layer than seems sensible. Hot-water bottles are free at the barn.
Where are the restrooms and showers?
In the old dairy beside the barn, lit a dim red after dusk. Hot showers run 7–10 am and 4–8 pm.
Can children come to the guided night?
Yes, at $12 for under-16s. The walk is gentle and the big telescope has a step. The field is quiet from 11 pm, so late ones sleep well.
Can I bring my own telescope?
Please do. The pad has two power outlets and a corner kept free for guests’ gear, and the guides are happy to help you find things.
Is there a step-free route?
The track from the gate to the telescope pad is level, compacted gravel. One hedge pitch and one bell tent sit right beside it; ask for them when you book.
Can we bring the dog?
Up to two dogs per pitch, on leashes at all times: there are sheep in the next field. Dogs stay at the tent during the telescope session.
First light
Hold a pitch for a clear night
Choose a night and a pitch. We hold it for 48 hours while you decide, and on the day you arrive we text you the forecast and the walk time.
Cloudy on the night?
If the 3 pm forecast gives no clear hour, we text you before you set off. Move your night for free, or come anyway for the slide talk in the barn.
Finding us
Openfield, Hedgeway FarmNightjar Lane, Long Quietby
Follow the Quietby road to the milk-can stand and turn up Nightjar Lane. After the cattle guard, switch to low beams. The barn is on your right; arrivals 2 to 8 pm.
Ask us anything
555-0117
hello@openfield.example
Office open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm.