Hotels Already Selling Out for 2017 Total Eclipse
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It’s still more than a year away, but hotels already are selling out as people prepare for the total eclipse happening August 21, 2017. As the first one in the United States in decades, it’s no surprise everyone wants to get a front row seat to it.
The path of the celestial event will hit a number of states in the 65-mile-wide “totality zone,” including particular cities in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Though the eclipse will only last 30 to 161 seconds, people are booking trips in advance just to watch.
For example, more popular spots—like at the foot of the Teton Range—are already filling up according to Clarene Law, who owns four Jackson hotels. “Some of these photographic groups got in here before my staff realized it was the eclipse,” Law told the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Nashville is the largest city with prime viewing, but since visibility is related to weather conditions, higher-altitude spots tend to be more favorable. The biggest city in the path of the totality zone will be Nashville, Tennessee, but it's less climatically reliable. Several blogs are ranking the top ten destinations for next summer's event, with hotels selling out in places like Casper, Wyoming, which is hosting AstroCon2017. Madras, Oregon is hosting a SolarFest, and there’s even going to be eclipse-themed tours of Yellowstone National Park.
If you can’t make it to one of these spots, there will be another total eclipse on July 2, 2019, in parts of Chile and Argentina.
