Entry No. 75 — the Durango file — filed under: after-dark

Fort Lewis College Observatory

Fort Lewis College runs a rooftop observatory atop Sitter Family Hall, home to its physics, geosciences, and engineering departments, with a 14-inch PlaneWave Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope under a roll-off roof. The college's Aerospace Business and Engineering Club hosts community star parties on the third-floor Sitter Observation Deck. FLC also maintains an older research observatory at the Old Fort Lewis mesa west of the La Plata River, where a 16-inch Meade telescope sits under a 12-foot clamshell dome. The campus rooftop scope is the closest serious telescope to downtown Durango.

The move: Catch a campus star party night and take turns at the eyepiece of the 16-inch scope, peering at Saturn's rings or a distant galaxy right above town.

📍 Before you go Public viewing is event-based rather than a fixed schedule; contact the college or watch for announced star parties. Weather-dependent.

• 📍 Durango (Fort Lewis College campus)
• 💸 $
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: Sitter Family Hall rooftop, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Dr, Durango, CO

Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.

⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

last checked: 2026-06-23