7 Ontario Parks For Stargazing Where You Can Get A Breathtaking View Of The Cosmos
Get ready for a magical night under the stars. ✨
Stars in the sky at Lake Superior Provincial Park. Right: A person views stars at an Ontario park.
While visiting an Ontario park during the day is always a fun outing, visiting at night is a totally different experience.
Many Ontario parks offer incredible stargazing opportunities, with dark skies away from city lights that allow visitors to see constellations, planets, shooting stars and more.
With multiple celestial events like the Perseids Meteor shower, supermoons and a solar eclipse coming up, you'll want to take note of these prime viewing locations that offer expansive views of the night sky, astronomy events, and observatories.
Here are some of the best Ontario parks for stargazing that you'll want to check out this summer.
Bruce Peninsula National Park
Price: $8.50 per adult, $12.75+ per person, per night for camping
Address: 469 Cyprus Lake Rd., Tobermory, ON
Why You Need To Go: Right on the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, Bruce Peninsula National Park offers some of the most breathtaking views of Ontario's landscape, and they're even better at night.
The park is a designated Dark Sky Preserve, and one of just 12 Dark Sky Preserves in Canada.
There are two designated observing areas in the park, according to Destination Ontario; one near the facilities by Cyprus Lake, and the second a coastal site southwest of Highway 6 called Singing Sands.
Accessibility: Some accessible facilities located in the park.
Lake Superior Provincial Park
Price: $10.84 per vehicle, $34.25+ for camping
Address: 96 Broadway Ave., Wawa, ON
Why You Need To Go: Lake Superior Provincial Park is recognized as a Dark Sky Preserve by the Astronomical Society of Canada.
The park actually has some of the darkest skies in North America with its low horizon creating a wide frame perfect for admiring the cosmos.
On clear nights at the park, visitors can partake in nightly telescope viewings with the park's Sky-Watcher telescope at the Agawa Bay Beach.
The park has several campsites, with options for interior camping and backcountry camping.
Accessibility: All-terrain wheelchair available for use.
Point Pelee National Park
Price: $8.50 per adult, $128 per night for camping
Address: 1118 Point Pelee Dr., Leamington ON
Why You Need To Go: Most known Point Pelee National Park as the southernmost point of mainland Canada, but it's also a great place to take in the night sky.
Point Pelee National Park became a designated Dark Sky Preserve in 2006 by the Windsor Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, making it one of the best places in the country to see stars and planets in the night sky in all of Canada.
The park hosts Dark Sky Nights where it remains open until midnight, allowing visitors to explore the park after dark. If you'll be visiting on a Dark Sky Night, you can also pick up a chart of seasonal stars at the front gate so you know what to look for.
Visitors can bring their own binoculars or look through one of the special telescopes on site for the evening.
Killarney Provincial Park
Price: $10.84 per vehicle, $34.25+ for camping
Address: 958 ON-637, Killarney, ON
Why You Need To Go: Killarney Provincial Park became Ontario's first provincial park to be designated as a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2018.
The park is one of only two provincial parks in Ontario with an observatory. According to Northern Ontario Travel, this year, the park is upgrading its observatory to "allow more people to view deep sky features like star clusters, meteor showers, the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, the spectacular craters on the moon," and more.
It offers a number of campsites where visitors can spend the night sleeping under the stars, which can be reserved online up to five months in advance.
There's also roofed acommodations, including a cabin and yurts if you'd prefer not to sleep in a tent.
Accessibility: All-terrain wheelchair available.
Manitoulin Eco Park
Price: $10 per person
Address: 18777 ON-6, Tehkummah, ON
Why You Need To Go: About 2 hours from Subdury, Manitoulin Eco Park is an official Dark Sky Preserve offering 360-degree views of the sky and stars.
The park, which was formerly known as Gordon's Park, can be found in Tehkummah at the southeast corner of Manitoulin Island.
The park's dark skies are the perfect place to take in meteor showers, see planets and even catch the northern lights.
The park offers Dark Sky Camping, Astronomy Nights with presentations and knowledgeable guest speakers and Stargazing Night Hikes where visitors can take an immersive adventure through hardwood forest after dark.
While you can camp at the park, you can also visit with a Night Pass, which is $10 per person and gets you access to the Dark Sky Observation Area from sunset until sunrise.
Quetico Provincial Park
Price: $10.84 per vehicle, $34.25+ for camping
Address: ON-11, Atikokan, ON
Why You Need To Go: Quetico Provincial Park is a famous backcountry destination with 460,000 hectares of remote wilderness.
While this makes it the perfect park for those looking for some rugged adventure, its remote location also makes it a prime place for stargazing.
The park can be found in Northwestern Ontario in Atikokan, about 2 hours from Thunder Bay, and is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association for its pollution-free night skies.
The park offers rustic cabin rentals available year-round, as well as interior and backcountry camping, which can be booked online.
Accessibility: All-terrain wheelchair available.
Algonquin Provincial Park
Price: $10.84 per vehicle, $34.25+ for camping
Address: Algonquin Provincial Park, ON-60, ON
Why You Need To Go: Algonquin Provincial Park's remote location away from major city lights, wild country and dark sky make it an ideal location for stargazing in southern Ontario.
While the park doesn't have an official Dark Sky designation, the park draws many amateur and professional astronomers from abroad, according to The Friends of Algonquin Park.
The park offers plenty of campsites as well as roofed accommodation. Located on the edge of the park, the Four Corners Algonquin, an observatory site, offers summer Dark Sky Astronomy tours and camping and "glamping" accommodations, including transparent "Bubble Tents" perfect for seeing the cosmos.
The site will also be hosting a dinner and stargazing event on August 11, 2023, with a small-group tour of the night sky at the peak of the Perseids Meteor Shower
Accessibility: All-terrain wheelchair available.
Before you get going, check out our Responsible Travel Guide so you can be informed, be safe, be smart, and most of all, be respectful on your adventure.
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