Green Bank, West Virginia -
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

When I visited the Observatory in the early 70s, I fell in love with the place. Since then, I've only been able to visit a couple of times, but the place still is fascinating. One cool thing is that they have mapped out on the grounds a scale model of the distances of the planets from the sun that really puts things in perspective.

Also within a reasonable radius from the Observatory is a tiny general store that has about everything imaginable in it, Cass Scenic Railroad (did that as a kid, too), two national forests, some of the most gorgeous scenery anywhere, and excellent skiing at Snowshoe. Wildlife is abundant, including colonies of ravens. [Old Crow, 05/07/2007]

This place has huge radio "telescopes" listening to outer space. There's a nice visitors' center and they have a short lecture before the tour in which they have some audience participation. You can ask questions of the scientists. It's in a quaint little town in the middle of the mountains. Due to the NRAO, there is a Federally mandated "radio quiet" zone that surrounds the facility. There's no radio stations and you can forget about cellular phone coverage. I'm not even sure that TV satellite dishes are allowed. [Jim McAnally, 11/30/2003]