On a late-summer night in Clear Creek Canyon, the desert floor of central Utah begins to glow. Not with the pale wash of moonlight, but in scattered pinpricks of electric blue-green, tiny living lanterns that materialize out of the darkness the moment a beam of ultraviolet light sweeps across the rocks. They are scorpions, and for one final evening this season, visitors to Fremont Indian State Park will gather at the outdoor amphitheater to find them.
The park's "Stars and Scorpions" program, a recurring night-time tradition, holds its last event of the 2026 season on Saturday, September 5, at 8:30 p.m. Rangers guide guests as they caravan out into the canyon with black lights in hand, hunting for the nocturnal arachnids that fluoresce brilliantly under ultraviolet light, then turning their gaze upward to the constellations overhead. It is a program that pairs two very different kinds of wonder — the ancient, slow-burning light of distant stars and the brief, startling glow of a scorpion under ultraviolet light.
The scorpions are the evening's first act, and the effect of their glow is so reliable that rangers hand out UV lights and let guests sweep the ground themselves, watching the desert floor light up with creatures that would otherwise be all but invisible.
The program has occasionally offered something even rarer than a glowing scorpion: a glimpse of the creatures' remarkable courtship. At a previous Stars and Scorpions event, park staff captured video of a mating ritual known as the "promenade a deux," or "walk for two." The dance begins when a male scorpion, guided by pheromones and vibrations, locates a female. After a "kissing-like" gesture, he grasps her pincers and leads her in a dance-like movement that can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Reproduction follows shortly after. It is a strange, almost tender spectacle for animals with a reputation for menace.
But the stars are the other half of the program's name, and they are the reason this particular canyon was chosen for such an event. Fremont Indian State Park sits deep within Clear Creek Canyon, roughly twenty miles south of Richfield along Interstate 70. In March 2021, the International Dark Sky Association designated the park an International Dark Sky Park. On a clear night, the Milky Way stretches overhead in a way that city dwellers can scarcely imagine.
That darkness is more than a scenic amenity; it is part of the canyon's deepest history. The park takes its name from the Fremont people, a prehistoric culture whose artifacts, petroglyphs, and pictographs are preserved throughout the canyon.
The canyon's story is one of constant reinvention. In the 1980s came the most dramatic transformation of all: the construction of Interstate 70. As bulldozers carved the highway through Clear Creek Canyon, they uncovered the largest known Fremont Indian village. Today the park's museum holds artifacts from the site — pottery, baskets, and arrowheads — while trails wind past petroglyphs and pictographs. (The museum's exhibits are currently closed for renovation, with a planned reopening in fall 2026, though the visitor center, gift shop, and outdoor areas remain open.)
For those who come out on September 5, the evening will begin at the outdoor amphitheater, where rangers will introduce the night's quarry before the group caravans out to the scorpion grounds. Black lights are provided, though guests are welcome to bring their own. Day-use fees apply — ten dollars per vehicle, with campers staying in the park admitted free. And while there is no guarantee of witnessing a promenade a deux, the chance of spotting a glowing scorpion is high, and the sky above is always on display.
There is something fitting about the pairing of stars and scorpions in this particular canyon. Both are best appreciated in darkness. And both connect the visitors of today to the people who came before, who watched the same sky and shared the same rocky ground. On a September night in Clear Creek Canyon, the desert floor glows, the Milky Way arches overhead, and a tradition of gathering under the stars continues, one black light at a time.