Casual sky-gazers and amateur astronomers across Canada have new places, called "sky preserves," to see the stars this summer. And the view couldn't be better.

Interpreters at Nova Scotia's Kejimkujik National Park are gearing-up to wow visitors with the wonders of the annual August 12 Perseid Meteor Shower under some of the darkest skies in the country.

Just in time for the shooting stars, Kejimkujik was established as a dark sky preserve. The designation protects it from the glare of city light pollution and provides unprecedented views of planets, stars, solar-system-forming nebulas, and even whole galaxies.

And it's not just amateur science clubs who are using these "astronomy parks" to get the most out of the night sky.

"Most of our stargazing visitors are non-astronomers," says Richard Huziak, an environmentalist with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, who helped found the dark sky preserve in Saskatchewan's Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. "Our astronomy programs are the most popular in the park by far."

"We have stargazing nights at least once a week for several hundred campers. Everyone just ogles at how black the sky is and how bright the stars are."

The first dark sky preserve (there are now more than 30 protected astronomy areas in the world) was founded in Ontario in 1999.

While astronomy groups have been using such spots for years, these "campsite astronomy" destinations have only recently come into public use as the latest new eco-tourism pursuit.

As of this summer, there are a dozen dark sky preserves in Canada. Five of those were designated in the last year alone.

A night-sky Woodstock

A March 2010 night sky festival at Elk Island National Park's dark sky preserve east of Edmonton drew more than 5,000 people to look through gigantic amateur telescopes, groove to live music, and go kite boarding on a nearby lake, with "night-vision-friendly" red LEDs attached to both sail and rider.

"This transcended the usual astronomy gatherings," says event organizer Sherrilyn Jahrig, who watched lines queue up more than 100-deep in front of dozens of telescopes. "Co-ordination with the arts community, Parks Canada, and large-scale media involvement allowed our star party to become a landmark success. It was a unique extension of the city's Winter Festival and a full-fledged celebration of the night."

The event showed-off the unspoiled night sky -- complete with an impromptu display of the Northern Lights and the chance to view a performance artist create a live oil-on-canvas of the night sky.

Ultimate meteor shower under Canada's darkest skies

Because many of them are so faint, the best chance to see this week's spectacular Perseid Meteor Shower is from a dark site, away from city lights.

Though darkness can be found in many spots, the dark sky preserves and other parks across Canada will have staff on-hand for guided tours of the event as it happens.

This year's August 12 Perseid meteor shower could be one of the best in recent memory, due to the nearly-complete absence of the glare of the moon.

While a few dozen of the 70 to 90 meteors-per-hour from the Perseids will be visible from urban backyards and more from cottage country, truly dark wilderness sites will provide you with the best chance of seeing each and every shooting star.

To see the 2010 meteor shower, no special gear is required. In fact, telescopes and binoculars are less effective than just looking up with your unaided eyes.

When watching for meteors, look straight up: Though Perseid meteors will appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus (on the northeast horizon Aug 12, after 11 pm local time) they can actually show-up anywhere in the sky.

As August 12 turns to the early morning of August 13, meteor activity should increase as Earth rotates right into the cometary debris responsible for this celestial event.

When you're wishing on one of these "shooting stars" consider this: Each meteor that you will see is between the size of a pebble and a grain of sand. We see these cosmic flickers because they're so close -- only a few dozen kilometres above us, and because of the intense streaks of light that happen as the each fragment superheats the air in front of itself, vaporizing in our atmosphere at thousands of kilometres an hour.

Campsite astronomy comes-of-age

With a slew of new dark sky designations in the works for existing national and provincial parks, a Canada-wide network of "astronomy expedition" routes are underway.

As campers look for new reasons to return to familiar outdoor destinations or explore new ones, such night-time heritage areas are proving to be a successful draw for outfitters, resorts, and campground amphitheatres.

"Dark sky preserves demonstrate how over-illuminated our cities have become," says Robert Dick, a Carleton University physics professor and chair of the Royal Astronomical Association of Canada's Light Pollution Abatement committee. "They are an official recognition of the importance of our night-time ecosystem."