Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

The Aurora Borealis, also known as northern lights, are radiant colors that light up the night sky over middle and high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, including at Voyageurs National Park.

The sky over Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve has played a role in how people have navigated, interpreted, and lived in the region throughout the year. The extended sunlight hours of summer marked a busy season of gathering and preserving for indigenous Han Athabascans and long hours of gold seeking for miners in the early 1900s. The dark skies of winter bring the glow of constellations, the dancing colors of the aurora, and the lights of cabins.

A brief overview of how Northern Lights occur.

This article describes the history of the aurora borealis and the science behind how it is formed. It discusses how atoms and electrons generate the light and other scientific topics such as the effects of wavelength on the appearance of the aurora and how the altitude of the aurora can be measured.

Come see the night skies at Voyageurs National Park. We have been recognized as an International Dark Sky Park because of the quality of our night skies and our commitment to protecting the sky form light pollution. The best places to view the night sky at Voyageurs are the Voyageurs Forest Overlook parking area, Kettle Falls Dam, and the Beaver Pond Overlook. If you are up by international Falls there are good viewing locations around the Rainy Lake Visitor Center.

In the middle of the night of November 5-6, 1804, at Fort Mandan, the Captains were awakened by the sergeant of the guard to view the remarkable aurora borealis, a sight they would witness many times during the journey.