Lakeland Provincial Park and Recreation Area - Alberta | Dark-Sky Preserve
Alberta’s Lakeland Provincial Park and Recreation Area were designated as a RASC Dark-Sky Preserve on November 19, 2016, in partnership with Alberta Parks. The park is 590 square kilometres in size with the core area of the Dark-Sky Preserve having a nighttime sky quality level of approximately 21.5 mag/arcsec2. The park possesses five observing sites, all of which are accessible by vehicle. There is no public access to electricity onsite.
Front-country camping is restricted to four campgrounds in the adjacent Provincial Recreation Area. There are also twenty one back-country campsites. Visit the Alberta Parks website to book a campsite. The historically-important hamlet of Lac La Biche is located about 25 kilometres west of the boundary of the park and has a population of about 2300. Accommodations such as motels are available there if needed.
In partnership with the Visitor Services Team (NE Alberta Parks) and with participation from other organizations, the park hosts numerous outreach events such as nighttime tours of the park grounds. The annual Lakeland Dark Sky Celebration normally occurs on the 3rd weekend of September.
With its forests and large number of lakes and wetlands, the area is an internationally-recognized Important Bird Area with ecological sites for waterfowl, shorebirds, and warblers. In addition, the dark nights allow Northern Saw-whet, Barred, Great Grey, Boreal, and Great Horned owls to thrive. The park is also home to numerous mammals including the threatened Woodland Caribou. Resources on the ecological value of the site are available here.
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