Information on the Little Bennett Regional Park observing site (Clarksburg, MD), updated on 6/19/2023.
Overview: Little Bennett Regional Park is a Montgomery County MD facility which is available for observing under relatively dark skies between Gaithersburg and Frederick. It is just east of I-270 at the Clarksburg exit and about 20 mi./25 min. north of Montrose Rd. The best site in the park is a field at the Prescott Rd. parking area, where predicted sky conditions are Bortle class 5 and where this is little to no direct light trespass. Chong Wang and other members have organized the following information from personal experience using the site (please consider joining this Google group to coordinate with other users of this site https://groups.google.com/g/lbrp ). NOVAC does not have an organizational agreement with the park authorities, but individuals are welcome to try out this site first and apply for a special use permit if you plan to use it long term (multiple people on the Google group already have permits and you can join them as guests first).
Where: This site is in Clarksburg, Montgomery County, MD. Google map location: https://goo.gl/maps/VuA4ViAdeERKWJp78
7.2952 W 39.2807 N, elevation 535 feet
Access: Join the LBRP Google group (https://groups.google.com/g/lbrp, shown below) and this group includes folks who are also interested in using this LBRP site (anyone can join this Google group, no approval needed.). Once you join the group, just send an email to the group email lbrp@googlegroups.com a few days before you go and see if other folks can join you. We recommend to go in a group of at least 2-3, some of us already have special permits that grant access to this location and we can bring guests, so you don’t need to worry about the permit when you just start using/trying this location.
Permit application: If you have tried this site and plan to use it long term, please apply for a special use/astronomical observations permit. For details on how to apply for a permit, please document link below.
What can I see? It’s roughly a Bortle 5 site, I have a 5 inch F6 reflector and I can see M81, M82 and M94 very easily and can barely see NGC2683 (UFO Galaxy) on a moonless night. Polaris is way above the trees, so AP is not a problem.
Planning your observations: Please plan your targets Outside of the South and Southeast areas near horizon (light dome) and Outside of the Western part (blocked by trees). There could be dew issues if you plan to stay after 11pm during late spring/summer seasons or there is a heavy rain soaking the field from the previous day.
For additional information including the form to apply for a permit see link:
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