Dark Sky Preserves and Parks in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has two certified dark sky places in our directory: one dark sky preserve and one nocturnal preserve.

Places to start with: Grasslands National Park (certified 2009) and Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area (certified 2015).

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (opens in new tab) says a Dark-Sky Preserve keeps artificial lighting very limited and tightly controlled, with sky glow from beyond its borders no brighter than natural sky glow.

Check the moon phase before you book. A full moon makes faint objects much harder to see, as Great Basin National Park's stargazing page (opens in new tab) points out. Summer nights show the Milky Way at its densest, and winter brings Orion and the Pleiades (Great Basin National Park (opens in new tab)).

Every listing links to its own page with coordinates, certification details and visiting notes, so you can compare places and plan a route across several nights.

Before you go, see the Saskatchewan dark sky laws for how local lighting rules protect these skies.

Preserves, reserves and sanctuaries (2)

Dark Sky Preserve

Grasslands National Park

Saskatchewan

Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, with its mailing address in Val Marie, has been a Dark Sky Preserve since 2009. Parks Canada lists camping from tent sites to oTENTik cabins, booked through its reservation system. The park is open year-round, though some services run only in summer, so check the hours page.

Nocturnal Preserve

Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area

Saskatchewan

Old Man on His Back is a 5,200 hectare Nature Conservancy of Canada property in southwest Saskatchewan, designated a RASC Nocturnal Preserve in 2015. Skies are Bortle 1, and the interpretive centre keeps an 8-inch Dobsonian that must be arranged in advance. Access is by gravel road that turns slick when wet, and the nearest fuel is Frontier, 40 km away, so bring food, water and fuel.

See also the dark sky lighting law for Saskatchewan.