Anyone who loves the night sky and gazing at the stars should visit the Dark Sky Park in the Izera Mountains. It is one of only two areas of this kind in Poland, a place adored by fans of stargazing as well as by experts and amateurs of astronomy and astrophotography. Do you want to see the Milky Way in all its glory? Do you dream of a spectacular photograph of a night sky filled with stars? You can do all of this right here – in the Izera Dark Sky Park, lying just 8.1 km from Izera Park!
The Polish-Czech Izera Dark Sky Park (IPCN)
Created in 2009, the cross-border Izera Dark Sky Park is a true enclave of astro-tourism, attracting enthusiasts and experts in astronomy and astrophotography. It is an area of about 7.5 hectares, stretching across the Izera Valley and the Jizerka Valley, at an altitude of around 800 m above sea level.
Behind the creation of the Dark Sky Park in the Izera Mountains stand several originators – including Dr Sylwester Kołomański and Tomasz Mrozek of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Wrocław, Grzegorz Zakowicz and Tomasz L. Czarnecki. The inspiration for creating the park came from similar places operating in North America and Canada. The Sudetes Dark Sky Park, lying on the border of Poland (Lower Silesian Voivodeship) and the Czech Republic (Liberec Region), was the first place of its kind in Poland. The second, created in 2013 in the Western Bieszczady in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, is the Bieszczady Starry Sky Park.
Polish and Czech organisations cooperate in the creation and operation of the Izera Dark Sky Park, including:
- the Astronomical Institute of the University of Wrocław
- the Świeradów Forest District
- the Szklarska Poręba Forest District
- the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- the Jizerské hory Protected Landscape Area
- the Regional Directorate of Forests of the Czech Republic in Liberec
- the Dark Sky Parks initiative
Stargazing enthusiasts know perfectly well how difficult it is today to look at the night sky and make out the celestial bodies and distant galaxies spread across it. Unfortunately, the light pollution generated by cities and human settlements does not so much hinder as largely prevent observing the night sky with the naked eye. In a city night sky we can make out barely 200 stars; in dark sky parks as many as 2,000 are visible. The difference is therefore enormous.
Dark sky parks are protected places where extremely precise observation of celestial bodies is possible, because the emission of artificial light during the night has been reduced to a minimum within them. Today we already know that darkness is an element of nature that also requires protection and care. Protecting darkness in such areas is possible thanks to cooperation between the local community and local authorities, which introduce appropriate regulations allowing the limitation or elimination of sources of artificial light in a given area. In this way, dark sky parks are in fact nature reserves in which darkness is protected.
The Izera Dark Sky Park and the Astro Izery Project
The Astro Izery project is an initiative aimed at popularising astro-tourism by providing suitable infrastructure and an area in the Izera Mountains where the night sky can be observed without difficulty. It was within this framework that the Izera Dark Sky Park was created – a kind of astronomical garden where you can admire celestial bodies in the most comfortable and spectacular way, that is, above all without the company of artificial lighting and using simple astronomical instruments.
Astro Izery is also about promoting astronomical knowledge by organising various recurring events, workshops and courses in the Izera Dark Sky Park. These are above all the School Astronomy Workshops (SWA) organised for secondary-school pupils, the All-Poland Astronomy Meetings (OSA) dedicated to astronomy enthusiasts, and the Astronomy Day at the IPCN, which serves to popularise astronomical observation, bringing together amateurs, professionals and people just beginning their adventure with observing the night sky.
Key elements of Astro Izery in the Izera Dark Sky Park:
- An educational trail – a model of the Solar System – a route 11.2 km long leading from the Orle Tourist Station to the Chatka Górzystów hut on the Izera Meadow (Hala Izerska), along which boulders are placed symbolising the Sun and the 8 main planets and 5 dwarf planets, forming a 1:1 billion scale model of the real distances between the planets. Each boulder is a different type of rock, which additionally shows the geological diversity of the Izera Mountains.
- The gnomon – one of the oldest and simplest astronomical instruments, usually used as a solar calendar; it is also located by the Orle hut.
- The sundial – located on the building of the Orle Tourist Station, the clock allows you to read the current time.
Check out the model of our development
Izera Park – how to get to the Dark Sky Park?
Through the Izera Dark Sky Park run the red trail (Świeradów-Zdrój – Polana Izerska – one-way distance 3.9 km, time 1:40 h), the blue trail (Świeradów-Zdrój – Polana Izerska – Hala Izerska – Chatka Górzystów – one-way distance 7.3 km, time 2:37 h) and the yellow tourist trail (Stóg Izerski – Chatka Górzystów – one-way distance 9.9 km, time 2:37 h).
The most convenient and quickest way to reach the Izera Meadow from Izera Park is to use the gondola lift located just 300 metres from the complex and ride up to Stóg Izerski. From there you can continue your journey along the red and blue trails (distance 8.6 km, time 2:22 h) or the yellow Stóg Izerski – Chatka Górzystów trail. You can join the blue trail in the Spa Park or from ul. Graniczna, heading towards the Old Izera Road.
The Izera Park complex is an excellent base for astronomy and astrophotography enthusiasts wishing to experience the chance to view the starry night sky in its natural and most beautiful form. You only have to cover a distance of a few kilometres to the Izera Dark Sky Park to encounter the cosmos in its most spectacular form, revealing with full clarity its vastness and the magical charm of the stars, planets and galaxies hidden within it.
Get in touch with the Proxin team: sprzedaz@proxin.pl / +48 603 711 805 / izerapark.pl
