astrolab du parc national du mont-megantic

Astrolab is a gem on top of a mountain out in the woods. It is truly uderated as it id not so accessible but worth the detour if you like nature and astronomy. The museum itself presents a great documentary and has a nice exhibit. As a bonus, it is in a national park so you can have a great thematic walk in the mountain as well. The view at the top is magical, especially on a clear winter day. Great spot for snowshoing too...

A few things to note: ASTROLab is at the bottom of the mountain. Access to park about 5$ pp. Then you pay to visit the Astrolab. The high quality Multimedia movies and team who work there are outstanding – willing to answer questions, funny and knowledgeable. Note that most tourists are French so most activities and videos will be done in French only, not bilingual. ASTROLAB has daytime and evening activities. Reserve for evenings, as spaces are limited.As mentionned, the park is chargeable to access and there are lots of great hikes to do- put aside a part of your day to do these.At top of the mountain, there is the observatory – you can visit it quickly but it’s actually for the researchers so it’ll take you all of 15 minutes to visit it.Note about the access: Location is a good hour from Sherbrooke and between two villages, the road steers off to bring you to the park. There is no onsite restaurant or cantine, so do bring your picnic. If you decide to head up the mountain, make sure your car is in good condition… 15%-18% ramps most of the way… you’ll need to stay in 2 on the way up and on L on the way down… Overall, both 12 year old and I thought it worthwhile.

The park is great with great hike paths, awesome views and nice new and clean campsites at the Franceville area ( north side of park ). Park rangers are great, enthusiastic and welcoming. For hikes, there's something for everyones. With kids, I recommend the Cimes-de-Franceville path up to the Pic de l'Aurore then get down by the Piste de la vallée path. A 10Km loop that 7-8 years old children will do with no difficulty. Adults will preferred a great loop that allow them to get on top of 3 1000's meters mountains ( St-Joseph, Victoria and Mégantic ).About the Astrolab, well we were disappointed. Before I start, I must say that it was a rainy evening so we did have the chance to see stars but we found curious that they don't offer refund even a partial one. Although they don't control the weather, It seems to us that for what we paid, the little conference we had didn't worth the price.

Although our French is unfortunately limited, we still thought the presentation was really excellent. The passion of the park staff presenting the talk was contagious, and since it was a clear night, we enjoyed a wonderful evening of studying Jupiter, Saturn, the moon and a couple of star systems. Time passed so quickly, and the staff provided thorough and expert answers to our many questions. A great activity, in a wonderful park.

I visited this mountain during the day. I didn't stop at the astrolab (which is at the base and entrance to the National Park). Drove to the top where there are two different observatories, great for space events like meteor showers! There are several hiking paths in the mountain, and they're all recommended. Gorgeous scenery, lots of lovelies to look at.

Car camping is available only at the Franceville sector of the park. The facilites are brand-new and excellent. There is free WI-FI in and around the visitors' center, the bathrooms are pristine, there are trails for different ambitions, there is plenty of wildlife, and the stars at night are big and bright (just like Texas). The milky way was dazzling, and I could see satellites crossing the sky. I heard coyotes and owls at night, and saw deer, small animals, and mooseprints (but no moose). But be aware of a couple points: (1) the ranger's English was limited (heureusement, je parle français), (2) you can see all the trails in a day. For me, it was perfect to arrive one afternoon, spend two nights and leave the second morning. I was alittle early for the fall color, but I imagine is is excellent now.

Excellent film on the creation of the universe, in French and English versions. Trails along clear running streams. Amazing view from the mountain peaks. Open evenings to observe the stars thru a public telescope.

It was a childhood dream of mine to go stargaze at mont-megantic. We spent close to $70 for two adults to learn nothing new and have none of our questions answered.The sky was overcast so no sightings. There idea is that if there are no stars then they offer a Q&A and go see a telescope. They won't even let you look in it just for the kick of it. After the main presentation they split the group in two. Half stayed and the other half went up to see the telescope. The presenter went into a monologue for a while, then into a discussion with someone about solar flares and ignored everybody else. I wanted to ask a few questions. Every time I tried the same guy would cut me off and would get answered. I wish they would at least offer a partial refund. I would have taken it and looked at the stars from the campsite. It was not overcast there.Although no one can control the sky they did not seem to care about keeping their guests happy or satisfy their curiosity.Really if you know the basics of astronomy don't waste your money there. Look at the sky with Google sky map or with a star finder as you won't learn anything new there. If you have children under 10 I would not take them there either. The topics discussed are way too advanced and explained in very technical terms. Nothing is explained in simple terms for them to understand.I would not go back there and will not recommend this to anyone under 10 or anyone that knows about astronomy. My experience may have been different in a clear sky but judging from the attitude of the staff they would have left one person hogging the telescope all night and not done anything about it.

We went to Megantic to see the ASTROLab with our 6 grand children. In the afternoon they had a free activity to build a small rocket which they launch with water and a pump. The children loved that. We went up to the top of the mountain to see the huge domed telescope The explanations we're quite scientific a bit too much for children. The best part was in the evening they have a great presentation and our guide was really very interesting. We went out twice to see the moon with different telescopes and when it was darker we had a chance to see the stars with 3 different telescopes. We saw Saturn with the rings very impressive. We would definitely recommend this activity

Breathtaking spot to see some stars. My friends and I got really lucky, the sky was clear and we spend almost 3 hours up there. The lab itself was not open, but we could just lay down in the snow and watch the sky. I recommand it for anyone, at any time of the year. (We visited in february 2012)

The show is in French, so your experience will be limited to your language skills. Only my husband speaks French so, I was dozing off during the show. However, I enjoyed looking at the stars on the dark sky - it's an unforgettable experience to be up there. The air is crisp and the smell of the cedar wood is intoxicating. It's a lovely place.

We had a wonderful (sort of) experience trying to see the Perseid meteor showers in August 2012 at Parc Mont Megantic. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy, cold and rainy evening, so the telescope was never opened. However, the museum, exhibits, laboratories and lectures were terrific (all in Quebecois French). We were able to see a few shooting stars the next night from the lawn of our B and B, but we hope to go back to see the meteors in good weather. We had a 1 a.m. scheduled appointment at the peak of the mountain in the domed telescope. We took a 2-hour catnap in the car before heading up on their shuttle. Everything was very well-organized and people were generally very helpful. There were a lot of children at the top of the mountain at 2:30 when our lecture and tour ended! It's quite an exciting experience. Worth the trip up just over the Vermont-New Hampshire border in beautiful eastern Quebec.

Excellent place for snowshoeing, cross country skiing, hiking and also spending a night in a little chalet! Challenge for all level of people, trails are awesome. I went there during a snow storm (15 cm in a single day), it was absolutely amazing. A must if you like snowshoeing.

We went to the Astronomy Evening. The evening was conducted entirely in French, which we don't understand, but that only took a small part away from it. The park is a "dark sky area", which means there are amazing views of the night sky. As part of the evening, we were allowed to view the skies through two professional telescopes, plus additional smaller telescopes. Our 12-year-old said it was an unforgettable experience.

on apprend l'histoire du cosmos grâce au film et commentaires des présentateurs, de plus on peut observer les étoiles grâce à un télescope extérieur