Mont-Mégantic National Park ''(Parc national du Mont-Mégantic)'' is a

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is located near the municipality of Notre-Dame-des-Bois in the

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

region. The park was created in 1994 and is adjacent to the Samuel-Brisson Ecological Reserve which is located northeast of it. Mont Mégantic is the approximate geographic centre of the park. Located at its peak is the Mont Mégantic Observatory, which is the most important astronomical observatory in eastern Canada. Part of the park is also recognized as important area for bird conservation. The park is managed by the Quebec government through the

Société des établissements de plein air du Québec The ''Société des établissements de plein air du Québec'' (, ''Quebec Outdoor Establishments Company''), also known as ''Sépaq'', is the agency of the Government of Quebec that manages parks and wildlife reserves. Sépaq falls under the auth ...

(SÉPAQ).

Special features of the park

The park terrain is characteristic of the frontier mountains in the

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

region, although the bulk of it is in fact the most easterly of the

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

. Four peaks are accessible by hiking trails including the Pic de l'Aurore ( ), Mont Victoria ( ), Mont St. Joseph ( ) and Mont Mégantic ( ). Mont Mégantic is the tenth highest mountain in Quebec and is the highest peak accessible by car. The park is known for its scientific observatory at the top (at an elevation of ). The observatory hosts a Ritchey-Chrétien

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

of (5'3") in diameter, the most powerful of this type in North America. The site is mainly used by the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

who are the owners. If conditions permit, naked-eye observations are possible through the telescope during the Mont Mégantic Astronomy Festival, an event that usually takes place in early July. On September 21, 2007, following sustained efforts to reduce

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, during the ...

in the region of Mont-Mégantic, it was recognized as the first international

Dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts or reduces light pollution or maintains and protects naturally dark night skies. Different terms have been used to describe these areas as national or ...

by the

International Dark-Sky Association DarkSky International, formerly the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), is a United States–based nonprofit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician and amateu ...

. Close to the scientific observatory is the Observatoire populaire du Mont-Mégantic (OPMM). Equipped with a telescope of a diameter, it is one of the largest observatories in the world built for use by the public. It is operated by ASTROLab of the Mont-Mégantic National Park. Five hundred feet below is the ASTROLab Mont-Mégantic National Park. ASTROLab is a museum and activity centre for public astronomy. There are exhibitions and a star cinema. At night, two public observatories, several telescopes and other observational instruments are available for public use.

Sports

In addition to a network of over of hiking trails, the park also includes trails for cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and mountain biking. Although rare, favorable wind conditions allow many hang gliders and paragliders to leap from the summit of Mount St. Joseph. Flight activities are supervised by the gliding club in Thetford Mines. The hang gliding altitude record in Quebec was set from the mountain in 2003. An altitude of was achieved by Marco Levasseur. The ascent of Mont Mégantic by bike is probably the most difficult in Quebec as well as being the highest elevated road in the province. The elevated portions of the many kilometres give a good challenge to those who are facing it. The

Tour de Beauce Tour de Beauce is a men's elite professional road bicycle racing multi-day event held each June in the Beauce region of Quebec, Canada since 1986. It is the oldest stage-race in North America, and is a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-rated 2. ...

(formerly called the Grand Prix de Beauce) has been partly known in the international cycling world by its arrival at altitude. The organizers have taken to include the path to almost every edition of the event in the month of June.

References

External links

Parc national du Mont-Mégantic
- official site in English {{DEFAULTSORT:Mont-Megantic National Park National parks of Quebec Tourist attractions in Estrie Protected areas of Estrie Canada geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Dark-sky preserves in Canada International Dark Sky Reserves

Special features of the park

Sports

See also

References

External links