Irving Nature Park

Irving Nature Park is a 243-hectare park on the outskirts of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, sandwiched between a salt marsh and the Bay of Fundy. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated it an Urban Star Park in 2011, one of only two urban Dark-Sky parks in the country.

Why Irving Nature Park is a top stargazing spot

What makes Irving Nature Park unusual is its location: genuinely dark skies just 15 minutes from downtown Saint John. Sky quality here averages around 20.4 magnitudes per square arcsecond, which corresponds to roughly Bortle Class 5 to 6, a notable achievement for a site this close to a city, thanks to the park's position between the salt marsh and the Bay of Fundy shielding it from urban glow. The 243-hectare property packs in six distinct ecosystems, adding a rich daytime landscape to its after-dark appeal.

What you can see

The combination of coastal darkness and an open horizon over the Bay of Fundy makes for good conditions for both naked-eye stargazing and binocular viewing, including meteor showers when the timing lines up with clear, dark skies. The park's northern latitude also puts it in range of the aurora borealis: the Northern Lights are visible from around October through March, with September added to the best-viewing window during more active years, and peak displays tend to fall between 10pm and 2am. Powerful geomagnetic storms have produced visible displays even at this urban-adjacent site.

Visiting Irving Nature Park at night

The main stargazing site is the Upper Squirrel parking lot overlooking the Bay of Fundy, with a lookout platform north of the kiosk popular for binocular and meteor viewing. The park is open May through October or November, weather-dependent, and vehicle access closes at dusk except during scheduled public events, though pedestrians can enter anytime. Local astronomy clubs host annual star parties and stargazing hikes here; check the park's official channels for dates.

Best time to go

For deep-sky and Milky Way viewing, aim for the Northern Hemisphere's core season, roughly March to September, and pair it with a new Moon for the darkest possible backdrop. For the aurora, the better months run from autumn through winter into early spring, October to March, with the highest odds during and after a strong geomagnetic storm; checking a space weather forecast before heading out can save a wasted trip. Meteor showers such as the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December are also worth watching for over the Bay of Fundy's open horizon, and however you time your visit, giving your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust once it is fully dark makes the biggest difference of all.

Getting there

Irving Nature Park sits on the outskirts of Saint John, New Brunswick, about 15 minutes from downtown by car, making it one of the more convenient dark-sky sites in eastern Canada to reach for an evening trip.

See your named star from here

An urban-adjacent dark sky like this makes for a convenient place to try spotting a star you have named without a long drive out of town. Bring your certificate's coordinates and a stargazing app to the Upper Squirrel lookout, and explore star-naming packages or the star catalogue beforehand. See our observatories directory for more nearby options.