The Best Cities to Visit for the 2024 Solar Eclipse

The Best Cities to Visit for the 2024 Solar Eclipse :A total solar eclipse will occur in the U.S. on April 8, 2024, when the moon will block the sun and reveal its corona. It happened last in the U.S. on August 21, 2017, and memories remain fresh.

Seven years ago, totality was far away. It will travel past large cities and urban regions from Texas to Maine this time. This method is the only way to see totality for 4 minutes 26 seconds.

The Best Cities to Visit for the 2024 Solar Eclipse

1. TEXAS

• Radar Base (1:27 p.m. CDT, 4 minutes, 26 seconds): the first location to experience totality in the U.S. and for the longest time.
• To eclipse Music Festival, Junction (1:34 p.m. CDT, 3 minutes, 10 seconds): the best climatological prospects for a clear sky in the U.S. according to the meteorologist Jay Anderson.
• Ground Zero Music Festival, Bandera (1:31 p.m. CDT, 4 minutes, 9 seconds): 20 bands, a full cowboy rodeo, stunt shows and a car and truck show. Could it be any more Texan?

2. OKLAHOMA

• Beavers Bend State Park, Hochatown (1:46 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 13 seconds): hiking, biking, and fishing on the shores of Broken Bow Lake in the Ouachita National Forest.
• Hochatown State Park (1:46 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 13 seconds): adjacent to Beavers Bend State Park with accommodation.
• Red Slough WMA, Idabel (1:45 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes 15 seconds): 2,400 acres of wetlands near the border with Texas and Arkansas.

3. ARKANSAS

• Hot Springs National Park (1:49 p.m. CDT; 3 minutes, 43 seconds): one of only two official national parks within the path of totality.
• Total Eclipse of the Heart Festival, Russellville (1:50 p.m. CDT, 4 minutes 10 seconds): blues music, hot air balloons and BBQ are promised.
• Mount Ida (1:48 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 15 seconds): rock shops and private mines allow visitors to search for their own crystals.

4. MISSOURI

• Fourche Creek Conservation Area (1:55 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 13 seconds): the longest totality in Missouri and bang on the centerline.
• Cape Girardeau (1:58 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 4 seconds): likely the busiest place in Missouri on eclipse day, this city will experience its second totality in less than seven years.
• Poplar Bluff (1:56 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 8 seconds): longer totality than any other sizable community in Missouri.

5. ILLINOIS

• Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival, Carbondale (1:59 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 9 seconds): a spectator event is planned for Saluki Stadium, as it was on August 21, 2017, during the “Great American Eclipse.”
• Eclipse on the Bricks Festival, Albion (2:01 p.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 6 seconds): close to the centerline in rural Illinois.
• Bald Knob Cross of Peace, Alto Pass (4 minutes 8 seconds); about 700 people watched the 2017 eclipse from this, one of the highest points in the region.

6. INDIANA

• Eclipse & More 2024, Richmond (3:07 p.m. EDT, 3 minutes, 49 seconds): camping, zip lining, rock walls and food trucks on Wayne County Fairgrounds.
• Knightstown Solar Eclipse 2024 (3:06 p.m. EDT; 4 minutes, 1 second): off the beaten track east of Indianapolis but on the centerline for a long totality.
• The Dark Side of the Wabash, Vincennes (3:03 EDT, 4 minutes, 5 seconds): the longest totality in Indiana in a historic town with a four-day festival of science, arts and music events.

7. OHIO

• Cuyahoga Valley National Park (1:58 p.m. EDT; 4 minutes, 9 seconds): one of only two U.S. National Parks in the path is home to the historic Ohio & Erie Canalway.
• Armstrong Air & Space Museum, Wapakoneta (1:54 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes, 56 seconds): visit Neil Armstrong‘s hometown to see his Gemini 8 capsule and the eclipse.
• Total Eclipse of the HeartLAND Party, Cleveland (3:15 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes, 50 seconds): experience totality at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Lake Erie next to the Great Lakes Science Center.

8. PENNSYLVANIA

• Erie, Pennsylvania (3:16 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes, 43 seconds): easily accessible from Pittsburgh, but avoid Presque Island, which will be extremely busy.
• Lake Erie Speedway (3:15 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes, 50 seconds): a big public event is planned, which could help alleviate parking problems in Erie.
• Lake City (3:15 p.m. EDT, 3 minutes, 42 seconds): just two seconds off the longest totality in Pennsylvania and away from potentially busy Erie.

9. NEW YORK

• ROC The Eclipse at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester (3:20 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes, 39 seconds): a three-day festival with hands-on activities, speakers, music and food.
• Niagara Falls State Park (3:18 p.m. EDT, 3 minutes, 29 seconds): for a shot of an eclipsed sun over Horseshoe Falls, you’ll need to be at Terrapin Point on the U.S. side (and use a wide-angle lens).
• Embrace the Dark, Geneva (3:21 EDT, 2 minutes, 20 seconds): three-day festival of wine tastings, astronomy art exhibits and lectures at the northern end of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes.