The Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary was certified as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary by DarkSky International, making it the fifth International Dark Sky Sanctuary to be certified in New Zealand and 23^rdworldwide. Located in New Zealand’s astronomical sweet spot on the 45^th parallel and within an hour’s drive of Queenstown, it will be one of the rare places on the planet to see the Total Solar Eclipse in 2028, and the only designated International Dark Sky Sanctuary in its path. 

Located at the head of Lake Whakatipu and encompassing 200,000 hectares stretching from Bennett’s Bluff to the northern boundary of Mt Aspiring National Park and bounded by the Humbolt and Richardson mountains, over 75% of the Sanctuary falls into UNESCO Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Wilderness. The Routeburn, Greenstone-Caples and Rees-Dart tracks all fall within its limits. The Sanctuary surrounds the townships of Glenorchy and Kinloch and in the coming year, they will be brought into the International Dark Sky Places program as an International Dark Sky Community in an approach similar to the Kaikoura International Dark Sky Sanctuary certified in 2024.

 For more information about the project, see our website: