Mont-Megantic and the Dark Sky Reserve

The World'S First International Dark Sky Reserve, Designated In 2007; A Quebec National Park Containing The Mont Megantic Observatory, Whose 1.6 Metre Telescope Is Among The Largest In Eastern North America · Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Quebec

In 2007 the International Dark-Sky Association designated Mont-Megantic THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY RESERVE IN THE WORLD, and what makes that remarkable is how it was achieved: not by being remote, but by THIRTY-FOUR MUNICIPALITIES INCLUDING THE CITY OF SHERBROOKE AGREEING TO RETROFIT ROUGHLY 2,500 LIGHT FIXTURES so that a research observatory two hours from Montreal could keep working. It is a conservation success story about switching things off. The OBSERVATOIRE DU MONT-MEGANTIC sits on the summit at one thousand one hundred and five metres with a 1.6-metre telescope, among the largest in eastern North America, and beside it the ASTROLab runs public evening sessions where visitors use telescopes themselves. The park around it is SEPAQ, with hiking to two summits - Megantic and Saint-Joseph, the latter carrying a small chapel - and a summer astronomy festival that fills the mountain.

189 route du Parc, Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Eastern Townships, Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Quebec, Canada

OPEN YEAR-ROUND WITH A SEPAQ DAILY ACCESS FEE, recently around CAD 9-10 per adult with children free. THE EVENING ASTRONOMY SESSIONS ARE THE REASON MOST PEOPLE COME AND THEY ARE TICKETED SEPARATELY AND BOOKED IN ADVANCE - the ASTROLab runs them on a published schedule that varies by season, and SUMMER WEEKEND SESSIONS SELL OUT. RESERVE BEFORE YOU DRIVE. THE SESSIONS ARE WEATHER-DEPENDENT and are cancelled or converted to indoor programming when it is cloudy, which in the Eastern Townships is often - CHECK THE FORECAST AND THE CANCELLATION POLICY. The ASTROLab exhibition and the daytime park operate on ordinary hours. THE SUMMIT ROAD IS SEASONAL and the mountain is several degrees colder and much windier than the car park. Winter brings snowshoeing and its own astronomy programme.

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