Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park Named 2026 Dark Sky Place of the Year

DarkSky International awarded Voyageurs National Park its 2026 Dark Sky Place of the Year honor, recognizing the park's 218,000-acre dark-sky protection and its educational reach: since 2020 it has introduced 8,300 students through virtual classrooms, hosted nearly 6,000 visitors to Park After Dark programs, and drawn over 1,300 people to six annual Star Parties, with roughly 40,000 students nationwide participating in annual Boreal Stargazing Week.

The article notes that mining threats to the Boundary Waters watershed near the park have resurfaced with Congressional action in 2026; this award recognizes achievement to date but does not protect against future industrial threats.