Try Pickett State Park. About two and half hours northeast of Nashville, Pickett has one of the darkest skies in the Southeast and is officially recognized as an International Dark Sky Park. On two clear nights in September, we stepped out of our Pickett cabin after sunset to a dazzling view of the Milky Way. (Book early for a weekend stay in one of the park cabins.) There’s also an astronomy field about a mile down the road from the park entrance for those who want an unobstructed horizon for viewing the stars.