Perseid Meteor Shower

Perseid Meteor Shower 2026: Watching with Kids Near DC

If your kids have never seen a shooting star, this is the August to fix that. The Perseids are the most reliable meteor shower of the year, and the 2026 peak lands on the night of Wednesday, August 12 into Thursday, August 13, the same night as a new moon. No moonlight means truly dark skies, which only lines up with the Perseids every few years. From a dark spot away from city glow you can see dozens of meteors an hour, up to around 100 at the darkest sites. Even from a suburban backyard with the lights off, the bright ones still punch through. It costs nothing, and it's the kind of late night kids remember long after they've forgotten the bedtime you broke for it.

Location is most of the game. The closer-in option is Observatory Park at Turner Farm in Great Falls, VA, which is built for exactly this. For darker skies, Sky Meadows State Park near Delaplane, VA is a designated dark-sky park about an hour out, and Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park is darker still if you're up for the drive. On the Maryland side, the farm roads of the agricultural reserve around Poolesville get you most of the way there. Meteors pick up after 10 or 11pm and keep building toward dawn, so a realistic family plan is to arrive around 9:30, let everyone's eyes adjust, watch from 10 to midnight, and carry sleeping kids to the car. Both nights around the peak (Aug 11 and 13) work almost as well if clouds ruin the main one.

Parent Tips 💡

• ✓Give everyone's eyes 30 minutes to adjust. That means no phones. One glance at a bright screen resets the clock, so make it a game to hold out.
• ✓Bring blankets and camp chairs that recline. The comfortable way to watch is lying flat, looking straight up, not craning necks.
• ✓Bug spray is not optional. August night in a Virginia field. You know.
• ✓Push the afternoon nap. A kid who napped until 4pm is delighted to be in a dark field at 11. A kid who didn't is not.
• ✓Use a red flashlight (or rubber-band red cellophane over a regular one) for finding snacks and bathrooms without wrecking night vision.
• ✓Check the forecast the day before and keep Aug 11 or 13 as a backup night. Both are nearly as good as the peak.