# Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma)

Region: Canary Islands, Spain, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 28.7569, -17.885
Bortle class: 1 (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
Drive from Toronto: ≈ 1.5 h drive from Santa Cruz de La Palma up the LP-4 to the summit.
Best time: Year-round; the summit sits above the trade-wind inversion 300+ nights a year.

## Overview
Roque de los Muchachos at 2,400 m on La Palma is one of the three best professional astronomy sites in the world. The Gran Telescopio Canarias is here — and the public can visit the summit ridge at night.

## What to see
Bortle 1 sky with the Milky Way as a physical band of light, zodiacal light, gegenschein.

## Highlights
- Above the inversion — 90%+ clear-night rate
- Gran Telescopio Canarias (10.4 m) on-site
- Certified Starlight Reserve for the entire island

## 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 Roque / La Palma at:
https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=roque-los-muchachos

Structured data: https://ontarionightsky.com/sites/roque-los-muchachos.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=roque-los-muchachos.