The Jasper Planetarium & dark sky telescope tours

We were genuinely lucky as we had clear skies and about 2 hours of Northern Lights on show, so overall an incredible night. We paid for the extra package which included a walk into a darker area to be privately talked through what we could see. The giant scientific grade telescopes and the talks by the staff we so interesting and you could really feel the passion of the staff who were able to answer every question we had. However, I can appreciate if you only purchase the basic package of just the dome show, this would be disappointing as it's just a projector inside a tent, in a hotel car park, but the full package is well worth the money. There is a rainy day guarantee which is good, if you don't see stars, you have 2 years to return to try again, which is good even if you're a tourist on holiday.

Seeing the night sky the u the telescopes was wonderful. We looked thru one at Saturn and several stars. Then they put on the high powered in which we viewed on a very large screen. We saw several galaxies, andromeda and star clusters. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. You should definitely do it.

The highlight of my summer so far! The tour is fantastic and the staff have so much knowledge it blew my mind. We arrived on a cloudy night but still learned and saw so much in the displays and talks, they have a nice cosy set up with a fire, too! We managed to go back the following evening for a complimentary look through the telescopes on a clearer night which was a brucey bonus. Kudos to everyone at the planetarium for putting on such a wonderful show, especially Gerran! And Beth was great with all the organizing!! I am recommending to everyone who visits Jasper, come clear or cloudy skies!

The planetarium tour was fantastic. The presentation had great information and the visuals were nice. Would love to go back and do the telescope experience if we had time. The drive up was beautiful and the lodge is lovely.

We had a wonderful experience at Jasper Planetarium! The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, and the sky show was truly amazing. Seeing the stars through the big telescopes was unforgettable. Highly recommended for visitors to Jasper! — MM Taxi Jasper 🚖✨

The good. My daughter, who is going through her space phase, really liked this. For those that don't have telescopes, this is a pretty cool experience. We have a large 10" one at home, and to be honest even the larger ones they had didn't do much better. The staff is friendly, and overall it was an semi-enjoyable evening, but not remotely worth what we spent to get there. The bad. planetarium part of this was cancelled the day before. We had a hotel booked, the show, and a 4 hour drive from Calgary. I know things happen, but this was quite a let down. The email said we could start the telescope tour at the same time. However, not once were we given an actual itinerary for this evening. We expected that there would have been a half hour planetarium show, and then you could wander around and look through telescopes. So we thought we could show up at any point during that window... which was wrong. The site itself I was excited for, hearing it was a dark sky reserve, but was no different really than the outskirts of Calgary. But the hotel grounds were "dark"... as in hard to see anything. An emailed map would have been great. We did a loop once thinking there would be signage.. nope.. Didn't see ANY building lit up with a lobby, or anything that would indicate this hotel was even open. Found the parking, and walking onto the main loop road, there was no signage pointing where to go. The ad on facebook only showed this weekend for dates, so we assumed that the show was only this weekend and would be promoted.. but found out later this runs for months. We finally see a large sign (unlit) with arrows pointing to different parts of the resort grounds. One arrow says "Main Lodge", so continue walking... Eventually we hit a largish building that I think has to be it, even though there is no signage indicating it is.. This entire resort is dark, so you don't know if there are more roads.. if the little side road you passed was actually the one you should take.. or one of the paved paths led to this "Main Lodge" or what.. extremely frustrating. At this point in time we are probably 20 minutes late from walking around. The sign above the door to this larger building is for a spa.. So angrily, I go inside the door with my daughter to be warm, and to pull out my phone and call someone. It's not a hotel lobby.. its a small vestibule with a stairway going down on the left, and a fold out table on the right with a big computer monitor on it. When I call the number in the email, I hear the phone ring at this monitor, and only then see someone peek out around the side.. not when we walked in. So obviously this "was" the place. It was then explained to us the telescopes were a "tour", and that it was a structured experience, and that the group had already left. Again, none of this was explained in the emails, or promotional materials ahead of time. Any other thing like this I have gone to you just wander around and check out the different objects different telescopes are pointed at. The person says they could move us to the next tour, a half hour later, so we had to stand around and wait on it. Overall, wasn't impressed. The planetarium was down, when we got in the video telescope was non-functional, and only started working for the last 5 minutes we had, so got to see 2 items.. this was honestly the best one, so it was sad we had so little time with it. I can't imagine the previous group if they were like us, driving for hours, cost of gas, hotel, the tour, to end up looking through 3 telescopes and that was it. Overall though, my daughter still at the age of being unaware of the value vs cost proposition, thought it was awesome. If you do go be aware you HAVE to be on time, and look at the layout on google maps to familiarize yourself with where to go.. there is NO signage anywhere, and the resort doesn't even seem like it is operating. Edit** Reading below others are saying they saw displays in other tents in the facility. NONE of these were shown to us. If you are going to charge this much, at least make the tours consistent.

This is a temporary built setup with a very very small dome and folding chairs and recliners inside. It’s on a parking lot of the Fairmont hotel. The hotel itself has a great view and walking area, that we enjoyed more than the show itself. The projection is blurry and the whole story is not well thought. It keeps jumping from one point to another without a logical sequence. Skippable.

Unfortunately disappointed. Priced like it is a world-class attraction, which it is not. On the plus side, very friendly and knowledgeable staff. But on the downside: -poor and confusing information. The website and Fairmount said only open Thurs-Sunday. But it was possible to book online for a Monday night, without clarity if the show would happen or not. We called to clarify that morning. Finally received a call back after 5pm when we didn’t have much time to adjust our plans. -the website says the planetarium is inside the Fairmount hotel. However, it is not. It is all outside, which in minus 20 weather is no joke! There was a campfire to warm up but with only 2 logs it didn’t generate much heat. Need much better info for what to expect to dress appropriately. The website says “cloud proof” telescope viewing which made it sound like it was indoors/covered, but it means they will show photos taken from the telescope with clear skies if it’s cloudy. -I was disappointed in the planetarium show. It is small (seats 30), in a temporary structure that’s only a bit warmer than outdoors, and the quality of the film (both content and resolution of the film) was only okay. -It was clear when we arrived but cloudy after the planetarium show. Obviously this is unavoidable and the staff did their best to show cool photos taken with the telescope on clear nights, so can’t complain about that. There were also short talks in tents about the aurora and meteorites which were informative. Maybe if we had been able to see the dark sky stars with a telescope we would have been blown away, there is the 2 year option to return with clear skies. But overall, at this price point, I expected better facilities and information and overall experience. To sum up: The planetarium show is not really worth it. Do not bother with the outdoor telescope experience unless it’s a clear night. And I would say don’t bother going at all if it’s too cold to enjoy. I’d say -10 as a cutoff, remember you’ll be standing still, outdoors, on frozen ground (they could have mats!), at night, so it’s pretty quick you get chilled even fully bundled.