On Monday, June 29, 2026, the “strawberry moon” will rise, glowing amber in the early summer sky. Indigenous communities across North America gave June’s full moon its nickname to mark when certain berries ripened in meadows and forests, ready to harvest. For example, it was called Ode’imini-giizis (strawberry moon) by the Ojibwe, one of the largest Algonquin tribes in the Great Lakes region, and Wipazatkan Waste Wi (when the June berries are good) by the Lakota of the northern plains.
On your next hike, look for Fragaria vesca and Fragaria virginiana, Utah’s native wild strawberries.
“These are mostly found in open meadows and in the understory of forests in the upper elevation in Utah,” said Neal Dombrowski, horticulturalist at the Red Butte Garden & Arboretum. “They should be easy to grow at home—we’ve had F. vesca at our plant sales before.”
The strawberry moon is one of the lowest full moons of the year due to occurring just after the summer solstice. Paul Ricketts, interpretive specialist and director of the University of Utah Willard Eccles Astronomy Observatory, explained the planetary dance that gives June’s full moon its auburn-honey tint.
“A full moon means that the moon, Earth and the sun are aligned in our solar system’s plane—Earth is in the middle. During the summer, the moon is at its lowest declination and closest to the horizon. This is because the Earth’s northern hemisphere is fully tilted towards the sun, making it appear higher in the sky. The moon is seeing the opposite—the northern hemisphere is pointing away from the moon, making the moon appear lower in the sky,” Ricketts said.
At 9:24 p.m. in Salt Lake City, look to the southeastern horizon to see the strawberry moon rise. You may need to wait if there are mountains in the way, Ricketts advised.
Hovering just above the southern horizon, the moonlight passes through a much thicker atmosphere. The dense air scatters short blue and green wavelengths of light so that only longer red and orange wavelengths reach our eyeballs.
“The moon’s reddish color is based on a few things—its altitude and what kind of dust or smoke resides in the atmosphere. The lower it is, the redder it is. The more pollution, dust or smoke there is, the redder it will be,” Ricketts said. “Also, your local position will affect it. If you have mountains in the way, the effect will be minimized because the moon will need to be at a higher altitude with less atmosphere for you to see it.”
During a “major lunar standstill” phase of the lunar orbital cycle occurring over 18.6 years, the moon is slightly tipped towards an even lower declination, adding to its lowest point. “Our last lunar standstill was in December 2024, so we’re still seeing a small contribution from this effect,” Ricketts said.
Register for the 21+ Red Butte Garden Summer Solstice Party on June 25, 2026, while tickets last!
Join Ricketts and others from the U’s Department of Physics & Astronomy at the free weekly star parties on most Wednesday evenings at the Willard Eccles Astronomy Observatory atop the L. S. Skaggs Applied Sciences Building on campus.
Header image: A strawberry moon rises as a Metrorail car crosses the Potomac River in 2019. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls