Camping with the Stars

Held in mid-summer each year, Camping with the Stars takes place at Eagle Lake Observatory at Baylor Regional Park in Carver County. Campsites are available in the park campground with additional tent sites on the ballfield directly adjacent to the observatory. There are talks, prizes, solar viewing, and fun activities throughout the day and into the night.
Eagle Lake ObservatoryMap & Directions
Panoramic image of campsites at star event

Upcoming CWTS Event Schedule

To register – Select event from calendar below

We hope to see you there!

Camping With The Stars

Camping With The Stars (CWTS) is our annual event, usually held in late July or early August. In cooperation with Baylor Park, the parks campsites are reserved for MAS members and guests as well as additional campsites that are available for tent camping on the ball field below the observatory. CWTS is a 3 day event, starting on Friday and concluding Sunday afternoon. There are speaker presentations, door and raffle prizes, laser guided tour of the night sky and star gazing well into the night. We also have a cookout for registered guests Saturday afternoon and a Sunday morning brunch.

Come See the Stars

Each observatory is handicap accessible and features state-of-the-art facilities with robotic telescopes ranging from 4″ to 20″ of aperture that are ready to show you the skies. Come see the stars through our five telescope platforms that include a 14” and 16” Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes, 8” TMB design refractor as well as numerous other telescopes. Or sit back and enjoy live video of planets, star clusters, galaxies, and nebula on the observatory imaging system. Enjoy a tour of the sky by one of our dedicated volunteers or bring your own telescope.

Camping Details

Baylor Regional Park offers 50 camping sites, 35 of which have water and electrical hookups – and 15 are primitive. Additional tent sites are made available on the ballfield at the foot of our observatories, where you can set up your own scope or take the short walk to view through some of the best amateur telescopes available. Other facilities include picnic areas, showers, swimming beach, beach house, reservable picnic shelters, sand volleyball court, group camping area and horseshoe pits, and an 18-hole disc golf course.

The Location

The MAS Eagle Lake Observatory is located within Carver County at Baylor Regional Park, about 45 minutes Southwest of Minneapolis and three miles north of Norwood-Young America. It consists of the Onan Observatory, the Sylvia A. Casby Observatory, and the HotSpot Classroom.

Event History

In the spring of 2008, the MAS was approached by REI and Astronomy magazine to host one of their “Campout with the Stars” events for 2008. Nationwide, there are dozens of similar events hosted by astronomy clubs. That first year success, coupled with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, prompted us to continue the tradition.