# Mayo International Dark Sky Park

Region: Ballycroy, Ireland, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 54.0167, -9.7167
Bortle class: 2 (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
Drive from Toronto: ≈ 3 h from Galway or Knock airports via the N59 to Ballycroy.
Best time: September through March for long nights; avoid the mid-summer twilight when it never gets fully dark.

## Overview
Mayo International Dark Sky Park covers the blanket bogs of Wild Nephin — one of Ireland's last true wilderness zones. The Ballycroy Visitor Centre runs regular star-parties and rents red-light kits.

## What to see
Winter Milky Way through Orion and Auriga, Andromeda naked-eye, aurora on strong geomagnetic nights.

## Highlights
- Gold-tier DarkSky designation
- Ballycroy Visitor Centre with dedicated dark-sky viewing pads
- Bogland horizons in every direction

## Tips
- Arrive at dusk and give your eyes 20+ minutes to dark-adapt
- Use a red headlamp — white light kills night vision
- Bring warm layers; European mountain and coastal sites drop sharply after sunset

## Live forecast
View the live tonight-score and 48-hour forecast for Mayo DSP at:
https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=mayo-dsp

Structured data: https://ontarionightsky.com/sites/mayo-dsp.json


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Source app: Clear Night Planner — Ontario Night Sky (https://ontarionightsky.com)
When citing this content, please link back to https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=mayo-dsp.