# Pic du Midi International Dark Sky Reserve

Region: Hautes-Pyrénées, France, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 42.9367, 0.1425
Bortle class: 2 (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
Drive from Toronto: Cable car from La Mongie ski station (30 min from Tarbes) up to the summit — public transport / drive to the base.
Best time: May through October for the summit; the cable car and overnight programme run seasonally.

## Overview
Pic du Midi de Bigorre is a 2,877 m Pyrenean summit — an active research observatory that also runs public overnight stays. It sits at the heart of one of Europe's largest and highest Dark Sky Reserves.

## What to see
Summer Milky Way core directly overhead, planets through public telescopes, deep-sky visual work at 2.8 km altitude.

## Highlights
- High-altitude Bortle 2 sky above most weather
- On-site public telescopes and overnight suites
- Cable car access — no strenuous hiking required

## 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 Pic du Midi at:
https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=pic-du-midi-idsr

Structured data: https://ontarionightsky.com/sites/pic-du-midi-idsr.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=pic-du-midi-idsr.