Northumberland International Dark Sky Park

The Northumberland International Dark Sky Park covers all of Northumberland National Park and most of Kielder Water and Forest Park in northern England. The International Dark-Sky Association, now DarkSky International, gave it Gold Tier status in December 2013, the top tier it awards. At nearly 580 square miles, it was England's first dark sky park. The bid was led by the national park authority, the Kielder Water and Forest Park Development Trust and the Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has called Kielder's skies the darkest in England. The national park and the forest park publish no sky quality meter readings on their pages. Our light pollution map estimates Bortle 4 at the coordinates we use, a satellite estimate for a single point in a large area.

Plan for the Milky Way core to be a poor target here. At 55 degrees north it peaks only about 6 degrees above the southern horizon in our data, and we show no months with usable core hours. Both parks recommend autumn and winter, when the nights are long.

The forest park lists Dark Sky Discovery sites where you can observe without booking an event. They include Elf Kirk Viewpoint, Hawkhope Car Park, the lower car park at Tower Knowe Visitor Centre, The Stell at Falstone, Tarset Village Hall, Stonehaugh Stargazing Pavilion and Kielder Campsite. Kielder Observatory runs ticketed events. The national park also lists Battlesteads and Stonehaugh observatories, Twice Brewed Astronomy and The Sill at Bardon Mill, which hosts a Dark Skies Matter exhibition.