Kirkenes · Norway
Gjøken · Øvre Pasvik Dark Sky Place
Free 24/7 car park at Gjøken, the Dark Sky Place visitor point near Øvre Pasvik National Park and the trailhead to the Norway–Finland–Russia cairn: the darkest legal place to stop in the region.
See tonight's live score and best time to go for Gjøken in Aurora Atlas
Why it works for the aurora
- View
- Open over bogs and lakes in pine forest; widest from the lake shores..
- Darkness
- Very dark sky, grade 0 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. No towns or road lights nearby; the faintest aurora shows.
- Aurora
- Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.
Getting there
- Distance
- About 110 km by road from Kirkenes (estimate), roughly 2 h 06 by car.
- Parking
- Free car park, open 24/7.
- Coordinates
- 69.0245, 29.0291 · Open in OpenStreetMap
Before you go
Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Norway before a night drive. See our winter safety note.
Spot information from openstreetmap.org.