SAN ANTONIO — It may be a year away, but the time to start preparing for next April's highly anticipated total solar eclipse is now.
Next April's total solar eclipse will be the last event of its kind visible from the contiguous U.S. for over 20 years, and the best place to pull up a seat in the entire nation will be in the Texas Hill Country. More specifically: Kerrville, where the eclipse will create the longest period of darkness in the U.S.
"For four minutes and 24 seconds, we will have totality in Kerrville of the sun being completely blocked," said Julie Davis, of the Kerrville Convention Visitors Bureau.
Information gathered by NationalEclipse.com says that as it exits Mexico and enters the U.S., traveling through the Texas Hill Country, the eclipse will have already reached its tipping point where the duration of totality is longer than anywhere else. In other words: For the 2024 eclipse, the duration of totality is all downhill in the U.S., with the longest duration being just over four minutes in Texas and the shortest just over three minutes in Maine.
"That doesn't sound like much time, but really, with eclipses (and) with how rare they are, you want to maximize your time in the shadow of the moon," said Brian Lada, a meteorologist with Accuweather. "So a lot of people, including myself, are planning to travel to Texas."
With the last total solar eclipse having graced Earthlings in 2017 and the next one not expected until 2045, now is the time to find a place to stay.
"The hotel community has also launched... promotions and specials to incentivize people to book their room right away," said Andres Munoz with Visit San Antonio. "So they already have them and you can find them... it's on visitsanantonio.com."
If you're wanting to stay overnight in a park, Texas Parks and Wildlife says day-pass reservations can be booked 30 days in advance while overnight reservations can be booked five months in advance. You can book online or by calling (512) 389-8900.
Check out the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau eclipse information page to find out where to stay. They also share information for events they're having during the week of the eclipse.
For deals on hotels, Visit San Antonio has a page with offers.