Sunrise, Sunset & Daylight Calculator
Look up sunrise, sunset, golden hour and usable daylight for any trailhead, park or town on any date — and see how daylight changes month by month when you're planning a trip.
Place and date
What the times mean
- Civil dawn / dusk: the sun is 6° below the horizon. There's enough light to hike without a headlamp on open trail — but not in a forest or canyon.
- Golden hour: when the sun is less than 6° above the horizon. Warm, low light — the best time for landscape and portrait photos (see how to pose for hiking pictures).
- Solar noon: the sun's highest point, when shade is scarcest and UV is strongest.
Planning with daylight
Short winter days catch hikers out more than anything else. Work backward from sunset with the hiking time calculator, and keep a headlamp in your pack year-round. For sunrise summits, plan to reach the top at civil dawn — the sky is often most colorful 20–30 minutes before the sun appears.
Frequently asked questions
What time is golden hour?
Golden hour runs from sunrise until the sun is about 6 degrees high in the morning, and from when the sun drops to about 6 degrees until sunset in the evening. That's often 30 to 60 minutes, longer in winter and at high latitudes.
How long after sunset is it dark?
Civil twilight, when you can still see on open ground, lasts about 25 to 40 minutes after sunset in most of the US. Under trees or in canyons it gets dark much sooner.
Why does the sun set earlier in canyons?
Official sunset assumes a flat horizon. Canyon walls, mountains and ridges block the sun earlier, so in places like Zion or the Grand Canyon's inner trails you lose direct light well before the listed time.
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