PENFIELD, ILLINOIS
Drive time: 2 hours

About 45 minutes northeast of Champaign lies the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve, the only designated International Dark Sky Park in Illinois. Protected from light pollution, the preserve’s North Waterfowl Management Area stays open 24 hours a day for night-sky viewing. Added last spring: the Dark Sky Trail, which winds a mile through tall grasses and offers expansive sky views, ending at a new observatory with a retractable roof. (Note: It’s for scientific research; you have to bring your own telescope.) The preserve has also added 11 stargazing-friendly campsites, available May through October ($85 a night if you want electricity, or as low as $20 if you’re fine going primitive; online reservations are required at least three days in advance).

While there Want something a bit less rustic? Stay at the new farmhouse at Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery ($300 a night), the state’s first goat dairy farm, which offers award-winning cheeses and farm-to-table dining onsite. Learn to make cheese — or settle for just eating it.