Northumberland International Dark Sky Park

A reason to stay out after sunset

Stargazing is more than seeing a smattering of stars from your front lawn. It’s the spine-tingling moment when you see an official ‘dark sky’ as recognised by the International Dark-Sky Association. Gaze at galaxies in Northumberland’s Dark Sky Park and spot constellations in the night skies above our coastline.

Northumberland is fortunate enough to have extremely low levels of light pollution, which means we have the most ‘pristine dark skies’ in England (CPRE Night Blight Report 2016). This makes it one of the best destinations in the country to discover the night sky and go stargazing.

The whole of Northumberland National Park and most of Kielder Water & Forest Park make up our International Dark Sky Park, a status that is awarded by the International Dark Sky Association. This means that on a clear night, once the sun has set and you're in a remote spot away from street lights, you can look up into the night sky and see thousands of stars, the Milky Way, and the Andromeda Galaxy (2.5 million light years away) with the naked eye.

Elsewhere in Northumberland, you’ll still be blown away by our dark skies. The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with its brooding moorland scenery and picturesque dales, offers outstanding starlit skies. Not to mention the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with its views to the eastern horizon where the Northern Lights have been known to grace the night sky.