History

Please read on to learn more about our company, and discover some of the exciting stories that DSG has been a part of, over the past decade.

The 2018 inaugural season was a success, with a number of sold out tours. Even despite the threat of yet another fire (The Boundary Creek Fire), demand for tours was strong. The season came to a spectacularly starry close, with many clear nights showcasing the Milky Way, and planets such as Venus, Juipter, and Saturn. More importantly, Mars was in opposition throughout summer 2018 (the point where the sun, Earth and Mars are all in a line, so that the two planets are closest together) - the next time the Red Planet will be that close to Earth will be in 2035. In October 2018, Dark Sky Guides was named a finalist at the annual Travel Alberta Industry Conference in the category of "New Tourism Experience".

The 2019 season proved to be even more exciting than year one. Demand for tours continued to increase and DSG continued to perfect its tour offering. This second year of operations was filled with memorable stargazing experiences. Tour participants were treated to Aurora Borealis (Norther Lights) sightings numerous times toward the end of the summer season, and a number of wildlife sightings were had over the course of the year (including Elk, Moose, Badger and even a mother Mountain Lion and 2 cubs!). The 2019 season came to a near-perfect conclusion when DSG was again named a finalist for the Travel Alberta Industry Conference ALTO Tourism Awards’ “New Tourism Experience”. However, unlike the previous year, this year DSG was named the Winner of the New Tourism Experience ALTO Award!

2020 saw the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The brothers were forced to adjust and redesign their award winning Dark Sky Adventure Tours and Night Sky Discovery Tours, and they even created a couple of brand new service offerings, including the Starry Skies Townsite Stroll Tour, to cope with the changed operating environment. Thanks in part to consistently clear, calm, perfect night skies, but more importantly, to incredible support from Albertans, DSG had its best season ever in 2020.

2021 proved to be yet another banner year for the Dark Sky Guides, thanks to continued support from Albertans and all Canadians! Despite the ongoing challenges associated with the continuing global pandemic, the Robinson brothers continued to perfect their existing tour experiences, and celebrated Waterton Lakes National Park officially becoming the world's first transnational International Dark Sky Park, as named by the International Dark Sky Association.

In 2022, the Dark Sky Guides celebrate 5 years in business! The Robinson brothers consider themselves fortunate to have survived 5 years in business, despite the ongoing pandemic. The Dark Sky Guides hit the ground running (err... snowshoeing), by becoming a year-round tourism service provider in Waterton Lakes National Park, after introducing two new guided winter-time snowshoe experiences in January 2022, thanks in part to support from Travel Alberta!

The Robinson brothers kicked off 2023 by resuming snowshoe tours and finally opening the brand new Waterton Planetarium, which had long been delayed because of the pandemic.

2024 ushered in a new level of year-round experience offerings for the Dark Sky Guides, as they finally secured a year-round location lease for the Waterton Planetarium, located near Cameron Falls in the Waterton townsite. The Planetarium remained open year-round on a regular basis, further augmenting the company's memorable collection of experiences. Furthermore, in order to keep up with an ever-growing demand for dark sky experiences, DSG began to expand its team beyond the four Robinson Brothers and recruit some non-family help to lead tours. Lastly, 2024 ended being the start of the current period of maximum solar activity and tour participants were treated to an ever-increasing frequency of Aurora Borealis displays while on tour!

Yet another year of growth and expansion! 2025 saw the DSG team continue to grow in size, and the company began to experiment with offering multiple tour experiences per night (to keep up with demand). The Waterton Planetarium expanded its daily hours of operation and introduced some exciting new interpretive signage and displays. Meanwhile, out on tour in the field, the Northern Lights continued to exceed expectations. On average, over the course of 2025, DSG guides were seeing the Aurora Borealis 3-4 times per week while on tour! And we were incredibly lucky to have 6 different mountain lion sightings while on tour, over the course of the season!

With almost a decade of experience now under our belts, we're excited for (and can only imagine) what the 2026 season will offer up... We hope you'll join us on tour to be part of the story...!