Canada
Dark lakes and old portage routes carry Mi'kmaw history beneath star-rich skies.
The canoe slides from one lake to the next along carries used for thousands of years. After dark, the sky over the water goes deep with stars.
Kejimkujik is both national park and national historic site, protecting waters the Mi'kmaq travelled for millennia and petroglyphs recorded along the shores. Guided cultural programmes carry that history first-hand, while paddlers thread the lake chains by day. Its dark-sky designation makes clear nights an event of their own.
Solo
A solo paddler can link lakes and campsites at a completely self-set pace.
Couple
Share a quiet lake loop and a dark-sky night away from every artificial glow.
Friends
A group can portage deeper, splitting loads and cooking on the backcountry sites.
Backcountry sites run on carried provisions; pack for the portages.
Inside the park at Merrymakedge Beach, the seasonal Lakeview Café serves fish and chips, pizza and soft serve.

Ōpārara Basin
New Zealand
Limestone arches spanning a tea-black river in forest that swallows the light.

Inje Wondae-ri Birch Forest
South Korea
Tens of thousands of white birch trunks stand blinding against waist-deep snow.

Kaas Plateau
India
A volcanic plateau that erupts into a violent carpet of wildflowers three weeks a year.

Saguenay Fjord
Canada
Dark water runs between towering forested walls where an inland sea empties toward the St Lawrence.

Waterton Lakes
Canada
Prairie runs straight into mountain walls beside a deep, wind-bright lake.

Îles de la Madeleine
Canada
Red cliffs crumble into turquoise shallows around an Acadian archipelago of dunes and fishing ports.

Hornby Island
Canada
Warm shallows, sandstone shelves and a creative community ring a small Gulf Island.