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Hello everyone
I'm from Raleigh and am looking for a good location nearby for astrophotography (general milky way for now).
I don't mind driving a bit, within 2-3 hours from Raleigh is OK if the trip is worth it!

Appreciate any help and suggestions

There is an old cold war astronomy site up in the NC mountains but I think it is too far for your 2-3 hour limit.

Thank you, do you have an address?
I can do a weekend trip to the mountains too want to see the milky way again, so stunning and breath-taking.

Well, anywhere far away from the cities should give you at least a decent night sky. The most obvious places in the state for the darkest skies are the coast and the mountains. The coast is only 2 to 2.5 hours from Raleigh, at least if you take I-40 towards Wilmington. The mountains are more like 3-4 hours.

I will dig it up.

This map gives a good idea of places to look: Dark Sky Finder

So at a glance it looks like camping at Medoc Mountain state park is one of your best nearby options.

Thanks all for the information! Much appreciated!
I will try the medoc mountain mp next month

That is awesome! And I love any excuse to get back up to Pisgah Nat'l Forest!

Will try the Medoc Mountain State Park tonight, contacted the part and the officer is very very friendly and helpful!
I looked at the clear sky chart for tonight Medoc Mountain State Park Clear Sky Chart, would the low rating of Seeing and Transparency be a problem for general milky way viewing (no telescope)?

Been a while since I studied that chart, but I would think that an "average" rating would be sufficient for you to see the Milky Way in a dark place. Let us know.

Sorry for the very late response...
We went to the Medoc Mountain state park yesterday, the weather was not perfect, but we went anyways to scout the location.
The park has a very nice, big open field, however the tree lines seem a bit too high, you won't be able to see much of the horizon (compared to say when viewing from boat ramp on a large lake).
Park officers are extremely nice and friendly. Seems like also some astronomy clubs and groups go there often for stargazing.

Being only 1 hour from Raleigh, I will probably go there very often

We just got back from the beach, and it was just dark sky enough (no moon) to try to Milky Way long exposure photos. Still had to deal with light pollution from nearby lights and towns... Ultimately, I'll use some stacking software to combine them, but for now, I put in my Album a single shot edited substantially in Photoshop and Lightroom. Maybe it will tempt you to get to Medoc.

sholtzma, very nice shot!
Which beach did you go to? Was the milky way clearly visible to naked eye?
Yes we're searching for dark sites primarily for the milky way. I was lucky enough to see it last year at a state park but wife wants to see it in person too

We were at Caswell Beach, same island as the recent shark attacks. One advantage is that the beach faces almost due South, so the area around Scorpio and Saggitarius was over the ocean and therefore darkest at about 1-2am overhead. That's the center of the galaxy, and that's the main area visible in the photo. You can clearly see some of the dust clouds that block lots of the light that would otherwise come from that galactic center.

Yes, the galaxy was barely visible to the naked eye, but might have been confused with a cloud by someone who didn't know the sky. The second night I was able to get 15 second exposures; the first night I started at 30 second and then moved to 20 seconds. I am confident that stacking will produce a much better finished image than what you saw. For a truly stunning naked eye view of the galaxy, though, you'd need it even darker than it was for me: up in the mountains, at an undeveloped beach (Harker's Island), or out in the country with no towns or cities anywhere around. Mountains are probably better than beach, because you are above some of the atmosphere.

These are my first serious attempts to photograph the Milky Way, and I'm pleased with what I was able to get. It's not hard, though. Anyone can do this if they wish.