QUEBEC’S EASTERN Townships are renowned for their spectacular fall foliage, but if you really want a view that is out of this world, head to the top of Mont Mégantic and look straight up.

Sitting atop the mountain is the Popular Observatory run by ASTROLab du Mont- Mégantic. “It’s probably the largest observatory on the planet dedicated to public use,” says spokesperson Marie-Georges Bélanger. At 1,100 metres, this summit is the highest point in Quebec accessible by vehicles and offers panoramic daytime views of the Townships and New England.

ASTROLab du Mont-Mégantic became the world’s first International Dark Sky Reserve in 2007 by curbing light pollution, making it an ideal spot for stargazing. An activity centre explains the history of astronomy and cosmic theories, while guides help visitors read the night sky. Reservations are essential to be among the 45 nightly guests at the Popular Observatory equipped with two of the world’s best telescopes. Many visitors also take a daytime tour of the almost 24-tonne telescope used by astrophysicists at the Mont-Mégantic Observatory.

“Our goal,” says Bélanger, “is for people to observe the sky long after they return home.”

— Julie Gedeon

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THE ONCE-THRIVING farming village of Rosebud, Alta., an hour northeast of Calgary, was a virtual ghost town when Calgary teacher LaVerne Erickson launched the Rosebud Camp of the Arts in 1973. The Rosebud Theatre began 10 years later. Now those arts programs draw more than 40,000 visitors a year to the village, which has fewer than 100 residents.

They come for lunch at the Mercantile Dining Room before taking in a live show at the theatre, browsing through the art gallery, learning about history at the Rosebud Centennial Museum. The Mercantile was the general store, the museum was a Chinese laundry, and the art gallery began as a Presbyterian church. “They’ve tried to keep the theme of earlier times,” says local farmer George Comstock, 78.

The drive from the city allows visitors to “begin letting go of whatever is pressing them in their urban life,” says Rosebud Theatre executive director Bob Davis. Once in town, they can “relax, shop, browse and basically slow down.”

The theatre, which helped transform the community into a tourist destination, was honoured in March with Alberta’s inaugural Rural Tourism Champion award for its innovation and leadership.

Damien by Aldyth Morris plays Sept. 5 - Oct. 25, 2008; Christmas on the Air runs Nov. 7-Dec. 23.