Dark Skies

Welcome to Europe's first Official Dark Skies Park..

Because of Galloway's sparse population compared to other parts of the UK, the area has the darkest night skies anywhere in Europe, making it perfect for astronomers and amateur star gazers. There is very little light pollution, a factor which led to the Galloway Forest Park becoming internationally recognised as Europe's first dark sky park. There are currently only two officially recognised dark skies in the world, both of them in the United States. Galloway Forest Park covers some 75,000 hectares and the area's Sky Quality Meter (SQM) has a reading of 3 on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most light polluted areas such as city centres. Galloway has two observatories, one in the Galloway Forest Park (along the A712 Queen's Way) just north of Newton Stewart and one near Whithorn.