Canada · International Dark Sky Park
Stargazing at Quetico Provincial Park
How dark this certified sky really is, how far it is from the nearest cities, a live seven-night forecast for the site itself, and the moon-free nights worth planning around. Official DarkSky International page ↗
How dark the sky really is at Quetico Provincial Park
Modelled zenith brightness at the site's coordinates is 21.99 mag/arcsec², which maps to roughly Bortle 1 (what each level means). This is an approximation from the 2024 light-pollution atlas, not a field measurement — and it describes the single point DarkSky lists, not the darkest corner of the park.
This is about as dark as the atlas gets: at Bortle 1 the Milky Way casts visible shadows on moonless nights, the zodiacal light is obvious and the faintest deep-sky objects are within reach of modest optics. Your own light — and the Moon — will be the limiting factor, not the site.
Getting to Quetico Provincial Park
The nearest cities we publish guides for, with the direction to head and a rough drive estimate.
- From Minneapolis
head north · 401.9 km straight-line · ≈522.5 km by road · ≈6 h · weekend trip
- From Winnipeg
head east · 440.6 km straight-line · ≈572.8 km by road · ≈6.5 h · weekend trip
Estimated from straight-line distance x a 1.3 road-detour factor and staged average speeds (40 km/h leaving town, 70 km/h regional, 95 km/h highway). It is a rough guide, not a routed drive time.
The next seven nights at Quetico Provincial Park
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Plan the next 90 days at Quetico Provincial Park
Moon-free dark windows are astronomy — computable years ahead. Cloud is not: beyond the 16-night forecast nobody knows the weather, and we won't pretend to. What five years of reanalysis can say is how often each month's nights actually stayed clear here.
- Nov 3–1513 moon-free nights23% of November nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
- Dec 2–1413 moon-free nights14% of December nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
- Dec 31 – Jan 1314 moon-free nights14% of December nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
Clear nights by month, 2021–2025
- Jan20%
- Feb31%
- Mar39%
- Apr32%
- May59%
- Jun61%
- Jul76%
- Aug61%
- Sep61%
- Oct36%
- Nov23%
- Dec14%
Clearest months historically: July (76%), June (61%), August (61%); across the year 43% of nights with astronomical darkness stayed clear.
"Clear" = weighted cloud cover (low 0.5 / mid 0.3 / high 0.2) ≤ 20% across the night's astronomical darkness. ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo Archive, 2021–2025 (CC BY 4.0) — historical frequency, not a forecast. Once a window comes within 16 nights, the live forecast above takes over.
Put Quetico Provincial Park's dark-sky nights on your calendar
Every month has a stretch of nights when the Moon leaves the dark hours at Quetico Provincial Park essentially moon-free. Subscribe once and each window lands in your own calendar, about a year ahead — no account, no email.
moon & darkness geometry only — cloud can't be known this far out; check the live forecast above when a window gets close
Questions people ask about Quetico Provincial Park
- How dark is the sky at Quetico Provincial Park?
- Modelled zenith brightness from the 2024 World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness puts Quetico Provincial Park at about 21.99 mag/arcsec², roughly Bortle class 1. That is an approximation derived from satellite data, not a field measurement; it is certified by DarkSky International as an International Dark Sky Park.
- How far is Quetico Provincial Park from Minneapolis?
- About 401.9 km in a straight line, heading north from Minneapolis. Using a 1.3 road-detour factor and staged average speeds that is roughly 522.5 km and 6 h of driving — an estimate, not a routed drive time.
- When is the next moon-free dark window at Quetico Provincial Park?
- The next stretch of essentially moon-free dark hours runs Nov 3–15 (13 nights), computed from Moon phase and altitude with Skyfield and JPL DE440s. Cloud cannot be known that far ahead; the live seven-night forecast on this page shows real cloud cover once a window is close.
- What is the clearest month at Quetico Provincial Park?
- Over 2021–2025, July (76%), June (61%), August (61%) had the highest share of nights with astronomical darkness that stayed clear (weighted cloud cover ≤ 20%); across the year it was 43%. ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo — historical frequency, not a forecast.
Place name and coordinates: DarkSky International (reviewed 2026-07-15, data 2026-10-13). Light pollution: David Lorenz, World Atlas 2024 (EOG VIIRS, CC BY 4.0), approximate. Cloud: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Moon and darkness geometry: Skyfield + JPL DE440s, computed locally. Drive times are estimates, not routes.