Sometimes it’s the journey and sometimes it’s the destination. But rare is it both. Unless you’re on Alberta’s Icefields Parkway—one of the Top 10 most spectacular drives in the world, according to National Geographic magazine.

Dubbed one of the planet’s most spectacular drives, this 230-km-long stretch of blacktop links together Banff and Jasper national parks. Studded with more than 100 glaciers, this is Mother Nature’s flashy necklace strung with pearly blue lakes, emerald forests, ruby red roofed lodges and hostels (strategically placed for cyclists), hikes, the Columbia Icefields Centre and some of Canada’s top opportunities to see our most iconic wildlife (yes—bears, elk, goats, sheep).

With so much natural bling no one was surprised when, recently, Jasper National Park snagged the title as the world’s largest dark sky preserve. The 11,228 square-kilometre refuge is not only 10 times the size of the next designated area—Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan—it’s big enough to gobble up all the other dark sky preserves in the world. A dark sky preserve is a designated wilderness area where strict lighting ordinances support the contrast between faint stars and the black backdrop of space. Join astronomers, locals and visitors from Oct. 21-23, 2011, with Jasper’s first Dark Sky Festival. A few of the festival stars:

Friday evening, Oct 21:

Various restos in the town of Jasper are offering Dark Sky themed dining experiences, listed at jasperdarkskyfest.com. Papa George’s Restaurant, Evil Dave’s Grill, La Fiesta and Mountain Park Lodge’s Skyline Lounge teamed up with Tourism Jasper, the Grande Alberta Economic Region and Brazeu County’s 100km Kitchen Party to create Dark Sky Preserve, a locally produced zucchini relish.

From 10 p.m. until midnight, pop into the Mountain Galleries in the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for free coffee and treats while gazing at the starry, starry night.

Saturday, Oct. 22:

Rocket building, solar viewing through telescopes, space craft stations, astronomy presentations and a digital planetarium will run throughout the day. From 6 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. there will be more star-crossed fun at Pyramid Lake with guided nightly walks, interpretive star-lit wagon rides and more astronomy sessions. The 6 p.m.-9 p.m. star-grazing dinner is on at the Jasper Park Stables—another top viewing station.

Sunday, Oct. 23:

A photography workshop and guided lantern walk are two of the day’s highlights.

Click here for a complete listing or festival events.

Join the conversation online:

Jasper Dark Sky Festival: http://bit.ly/p4SXKJ

Jasper Dark Sky Preserve: http://bit.ly/q6wLBF

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada: http://bit.ly/ru9LBy

Hashtag: #JasperDarkSkyFest

Related links:

Enjoying Autumn in the Rockies

The Future for Parks Canada

Parks Canada Turn 100