2024 solar eclipse maps show the best potential viewing places

16.7K

What is the best place to see the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024? This post includes a 2024 solar eclipse map for Canada and links to other 2024 solar eclipse maps that track the path through Mexico and the United States. You’ll find inspiration for all sorts of eclipse road trips!

BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER, A WARNING: Do NOT attempt to view any solar eclipse without proper eye protection (eclipse glasses that meet the international ISO 12312-2 standard). You can permanently damage your eyes! I’m talking blindness, people. That’s why I put this in bold red type.

Here are all the details you need on proper eclipse glasses. And CBC Ottawa has a useful post on where to get solar eclipse glasses in Ottawa.

This post contains affiliate links. In some cases, I received free or discounted accommodations for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Cover photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash.

Table of contents

Why is the 2024 solar eclipse special?

All eclipses are special, simply because they’re rare, fascinating to watch and basically cool. And total solar eclipses are much more rare than partial ones. For instance, one of the places in the 2024 eclipse’s path is Kingston, Ontario. The last time Kingston witnessed a total solar eclipse was 1349. The next one won’t swing by until 2399. This isn’t just a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s a once-in-a-few-centuries event.

What is a solar eclipse?

What happens during a solar eclipse? Glad you asked.

In the simplest terms, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, at such an angle that it blocks all of the sun’s rays (except for a very narrow corona) from reaching the Earth. Day will quickly and briefly become as dark as night, which will be a bit disconcerting, to say the least.

I am about the furthest thing from a scientist that you could imagine, so I’ll leave it to the experts at Space.com to explain solar eclipses in more detail.

Why think about the 2024 solar eclipse now?

You may wonder why I’m writing about the 2024 eclipse in advance. I’m doing so because, if you want to attend an eclipse-viewing event or to stay overnight in one of the communities in the path of the eclipse, you should start planning as early as possible. Hotel rooms are already going quickly in some locations.

Where can I find an interactive 2024 solar eclipse map?

The interactive solar eclipse map developed by Xavier M. Jubier appears to be one of the most detailed maps available. I’m working on getting permission to display it in this post, but in the meantime, you can see the map here.

On that map, you can type the name of any community into the search box near the top left of the map. If the total eclipse will be visible from that community, a pop-up box will display information on the start and end time of the eclipse there.

2024 solar eclipse map for Canada

In Canada, the “path of totality”—astronomer-speak for the places where people will see a total solar eclipse, and represented on the map above by the area shaded blue—will stretch from southwestern Ontario to Newfoundland. In the areas shaded yellow, viewers will see a partial solar eclipse, which is still cool but is much less spectacular than a total solar eclipse. (For a detailed explanation of the reasons that a total solar eclipse is much more impressive than even an almost-total eclipse, see Jamie Carter’s post “‘99%’ totality does not exist!” over at Space.com.)

Of course, whether any type of solar eclipse is visible at all depends on the weather. If it’s an overcast day, you may notice the light dimming. However, you won’t see the eclipse itself.

Note: I’m sharing the map above with some reservations. It was the only shareable map focusing solely on Canada that I could find. If you look close at the small inset map on the left of the graphic, you’ll see the the path of totality shown is a bit further north in Atlantic Canada than it is on the larger main map (focus on the blue line running through Newfoundland and you’ll see what I mean). The version shown in the small map corresponds much more closely to all the other maps I’ve seen for the eclipse path, so I would rely on it more than the large map if you’re making travel plans. Keep reading, though—I have lots of tips for pinpointing the path of totality exactly.

Will I be able to see the 2024 solar eclipse in Ottawa?

Well, yes and no. Yes, the 2024 solar eclipse will be visible in Ottawa, with the caveat above about the weather. However, it won’t be a total eclipse. As the Jamie Carter post linked above explains, that means Ottawa’s eclipse won’t be as nearly as dramatic as a total eclipse. To see the whole enchilada, you’ll have to take a bit of a road trip from Ottawa.

However, if you are staying in town, you can join an eclipse-watching event at the Canadian Museum of Nature or the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Both museums advise buying tickets in advance. The Osgoode Legion is hosting an eclipse-viewing party (with a barbecue!), too. And on April 7, the day before the big event, Carleton University is hosting a free afternoon of talks about astronomy and eclipses.

Where can I see the 2024 solar eclipse in Ontario?

2024 solar eclipse maps and lists for Ontario

Here’s the good news for Ottawa eclipse fans: You won’t have to travel too far from the city to see the total 2024 solar eclipse. A useful website called, naturally enough, Eclipse 2024, has a basic 2024 solar eclipse map for Ontario. That site also has a searchable database showing all 1,292 Ontario communities (many of them quite tiny) in the path of totality. And Destination Ontario lists many of the larger communities on the path, including Niagara Falls and the southeastern part of Hamilton.

Here are some of the Ontario communities within easy reach of Ottawa where you can take in the 2024 total solar eclipse, along with details on some eclipse-related events. Note that distances to each community from Ottawa are measured from Parliament Hill, and totality times and durations come from Eclipse 2024.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Merrickville

The basics

• How far is Merrickville from Ottawa? 75km
• When will totality start? 3:24:28pm
• How long will totality last? 0 minutes 37.8 seconds

If you go

As if Merrickville weren’t already a popular day-trip destination because it’s so darned cute, it’s also on the very edge of the eclipse’s totality path. However, because it’s right on the edge of the path, the total eclipse will last less than 40 seconds. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it! While you’re in the pretty Rideau Canal village, you could do some shopping and ponder some of these 10 things you might not know about Merrickville.

The 2024 solar eclipse at the Battle of Crysler’s Farm NHS (Morrisburg)

The basics

• How far is the Battle of Crysler’s Farm NHS from Ottawa: 90km
• When will totality start? 3:24:29
• How long will totality last? 2 minutes 7.8 seconds

If you go

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission is coordinating eclipse activities at the Battle of Crysler’s Farm National Historic Site near Morrisburg. The site is just west of Upper Canada Village. You can enjoy the Upper Canada Village Miniature Train (extra fee), as well as free music. Eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last. Portable washrooms will be provided. The organizers advise visitors to bring lawn chairs. Note that Upper Canada Village itself is closed on eclipse day. Admission to the large open area at Crysler’s Farm will be free, but if you want to park a vehicle, you must buy a parking pass in advance. You may need to walk up to 1km from the parking area to the prime viewing area (some accessible parking spaces are available).

The 2024 solar eclipse in Cornwall and SDG

The basics

• How far is Cornwall from Ottawa? 103km
• When will totality start? 3:25:00pm
• How long will totality last? 2 minutes 13.5 seconds

If you go

A good chunk of the southern part of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (handily known as SDG for short) lies in the path of totality, including the city of Cornwall and the small communities of Williamstown and Morrisburg.

• In Williamstown, you could view the eclipse from St. Raphael’s Ruins National Historic Site, pictured above.
• In Cornwall, the waterfront Lamoureux Park should offer a nice, unobstructed view. There will be a party in the park from 2pm to 4pm with music, food and activities. Parking and washrooms will be available at the Cornwall Civic Complex.
• Did you know that there’s a ski hill in Cornwall? Well, now you do, and the Big Ben Ski Centre is hosting a hilltop eclipse party. (Ticket purchase required.)
• Perhaps you could combine your eclipse viewing with some spring birdwatching at the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Ingleside or the Cooper Marsh Conservation Area near Lancaster.
• Stone Crop Acres Winery and Vineyard in Morrisburg will be open. If you’re planning to watch the eclipse there, leave a comment on the winery’s Facebook page so they can get an idea of numbers.
• This Cornwall Seaway News article has other suggestions.

If you’d like to stay overnight in Cornwall, Auberge Chesley’s Inn is a beautifully restored heritage home that’s now a bed-and-breakfast. The rooms are comfortable and the breakfasts are outstanding. If chain hotels are more your style, try the Ramada by Wyndham Cornwall or the Best Western Parkway Inn and Conference Centre. I haven’t tried either, but they’re both conveniently located on or close to busy Brookdale Avenue.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Brockville

The basics

• How far is Brockville from Ottawa? 115km
• When will totality start? 3:23:30pm
• How long will totality last? 2 minutes 44.4 seconds
• Brockville Tourism will have details on local events closer to the day.

If you go

It takes a little over an hour to drive to Brockville from Ottawa, so it’s a feasible eclipse day-trip destination. But why not stick around? You could learn about the ecology of the St. Lawrence River at the Aquatarium, see a show at the Brockville Arts Centre or take a cooking class (and stay) at Maison Maitland in nearby Maitland.

Eclipse festivities will be centered on Blockhouse Island, which will be closed to vehicles for the day. Free shuttles will be available from the Brockville Shopping Centre and Brockville Memorial Centre (parking will be free at both sites) to Blockhouse Island. Note the times of the shuttles on the eclipse page.

Overnight accommodations downtown include the apartment-sized digs at the Noble Waterfront Apartment Suites (which are actually a block or so from the waterfront, but still very nice) and the charming rooms (with bountiful breakfasts) at the Sir Isaac Brock B&B Luxury Suites (where Sir Isaac likely never stayed, but also still very nice). Near Highway 401, you’ll find lots of mid-priced chain hotels, none of which I’ve tried yet. They include the Hampton Inn Brockville, which has garnered some good reviews on Booking.com.

And here are 10 things you might not know about Brockville.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Gananoque

The basics

• How far is Gananoque from Ottawa? 165km
• When will totality start? 3:22:41pm
• How long will totality last? 3 minutes 4.4 seconds

If you go

Gananoque gets my vote for the best eclipse pun I’ve seen so far. The town’s April 8 events are going to be centered on Joel Stone Park, which juts into the St. Lawrence River on the edge of downtown. So, of course, they’re calling the festivities “Total Eclipse of the Park.” (I can hear all you Bonnie Tyler fans out there, humming “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”)

The town is still finalizing its slate of eclipse-related activities, which will run from April 4 through April 8, but possibilities being bandied about include free screenings of space-themed documentaries, as well as feature films with “sun” or “moon” in their name (such as Little Miss Sunshine). Businesses will be handing out Gananoque-branded eclipse-viewing glasses and the town is encouraging all businesses—even those that are normally closed on a Monday—to open for the once-in-a-lifetime astral phenomenon.

If you’d like to watch the eclipse from the water, City Cruises is running a three-hour eclipse cruise that will let you see Boldt Castle and the mansions of Millionaire’s Row from the water, and that will position the ship in the middle of the St. Lawrence for the eclipse.

Looking for a place to stay? The homey Gananoque Inn and Spa (the cream-and-white building in the photo above) is right on the downtown waterfront. The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites 1000 Islands is closer to the Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands, if that’s your cup of poker chips.

For more ideas for things to see and do in and around Gananoque, see my guide to the town.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Kingston

The basics

• How far is Kingston from Ottawa? 195km
• When will totality start? 3:22:24pm
• How long will totality last? 2 minutes 51.8 seconds
• Visit Kingston has an eclipse information page where you can sign up for alerts on hotel deals, local events and more.
• The Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy at Queen’s University also has an information page about the solar eclipse in Kingston.

If you go

On April 8, public transit will be free throughout Kingston. Lots of downtown restaurants and businesses are planning special promotions and menus. And many Kingston museums—normally closed on weekdays in April—will be open and offering eclipse-related programming.

Some 100 volunteers and scientists from Queen’s University—aka “eclipse ambassadors”—will be out in the community offering scientific background on April 8.

Don’t forget your eclipse glasses. Some sites are planning to hand out free glasses, but supplies are expected to be tight.

Grass Creek Park

Grass Creek Park, about 15 kilometres east of downtown Kingston, will be the site of the city’s main Total Eclipse in the Park event. (OK, so Gananoque wasn’t the only place to come up with this play on words.) There will be live entertainment, food vendors, a beer tent and other attractions, and Queen’s University eclipse ambassadors will be on hand. Unfortunately, there’s no public transit service to the site.

Fort Henry

At Fort Henry National Historic Site, Bob McDonald—host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks—will be the featured guest speaker.

Other Kingston eclipse-viewing sites

Queen’s University eclipse ambassadors will be at the following sites, which will also offer washroom access:

• Lake Ontario Park (920 King Street West)
• INVISTA Centre, south field (135 Gardiners Road)
• Cataraqui Kinsmen Arena (1030 Sunnyside Road)
• Kingston East Community Centre, Grenadier Park (779 Highway 15)
• Lions Civic Gardens/Isabel Turner Library (935 Gardiners Road) (parking at Cataraqui Centre)
• LaSalle Secondary School (773 Highway 15)
• Maple Elementary School (529 St. Martha Street)
• Frontenac Secondary School (1789 Bath Road)
• Bayridge Secondary School (1059 Taylor Kidd Boulevard)

Accommodations in Kingston

Kingston is doable as a day trip, but that would require a four-hour round trip from Ottawa. Fortunately, the Limestone City has lots of great hotels, and I’ve been lucky enough to stay in many of them. If you want a full-service hotel right on Lake Ontario, try the Delta Hotels by Marriott Kingston Waterfront. (It also has a well-regarded restaurant, Aquaterra.) A few blocks to the east, the Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront is a nice mid-range option.

If you enjoy heritage B&Bs in gorgeous Victorian mansions, I can highly recommend the Rosemount Inn. It’s on Sydenham Street, about a 10-minute walk from downtown.

Travelling with kids? Our daughter loved the indoor pool (complete with corkscrew slide) at the Courtyard by Marriott Kingston Highway 401, and the hotel was spotless and well maintained. It’s close to Highway 401, as well as lots of family-friendly chain restaurants and big box stores, and has free parking.

Looking for tips on things to see and do in Kingston besides the eclipse? Check out my complete guide to Kingston.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Prince Edward County

The basics

• How far is Picton from Ottawa? 270km
• When will totality start? 3:21:23pm
• How long will totality last? 3 minutes 2.8 seconds

If you go

I’ve chosen Picton as the point of reference for this section because it’s the biggest community in Prince Edward County. However, The County is quite large, and so it offers the eclipse watcher lots of choices for taking in the big event. And you’ll find lots to see and do in PEC before and after the eclipse. You could sample wine (The County is home to more than 40 wineries), shop (Picton is chock-full of cute boutiques) or eat great ice cream (the Picton location of Slickers opens for the season on March 28).

One of my favourite things to do in The County is to have a fancy meal, since every second chef from Toronto seems to have pulled up stakes and started a bistro in PEC. Fortunately for eclipse watchers, April 8 falls during Countylicious, a four-week promotion that sees restaurants across Prince Edward County offering special prix-fixe menus (April 4 to 28). Visit the County has more information on that, as well as lots of other events, on its eclipse information page.

For an overnight stay, I really enjoyed Jackson’s Falls Country Inn, a quiet spot not far from Picton.

Where can I see the 2024 solar eclipse in Quebec?

2024 solar eclipse maps and lists for Quebec

The eclipse will pass right through southeastern Quebec, meaning many places in the province will be great places to view it (weather permitting, of course). You can check Xavier M. Jubier’s interactive solar eclipse map to find them, use Eclipse 2024’s basic 2024 solar eclipse map for Quebec or check Eclipse 2024’s searchable database showing all 1,464 Quebec communities in the path of totality. Several Quebec organizations have banded together to create Eclipse Quebec, a bilingual portal full of information on all things eclipse related.

The 2024 solar eclipse in Montreal

Some of Greater Montreal will see the total eclipse, as the northern edge of the path of totality practically slices the metropolitan region in half. Downtown Montreal will see the total eclipse, but Laval will not. And the total eclipse will be longer on the South Shore than it will be downtown. Check the maps and databases above carefully to avoid disappointment! Here are some other good links to consult, if you’re planning to watch the event in Montreal:

• the Planétarium de Montréal
• the Montréal Science Centre, which is organizing a free eclipse-viewing event
• Tourisme Montréal, for visitor information

The 2024 solar eclipse in Sherbrooke and the Eastern Townships

Sherbrooke lies almost exactly in the middle of the path of totality. As a result, the total eclipse will last over three minutes there, longer than in many other locations. In the Eastern Townships, you can also visit a fascinating astronomical observatory at Mont Mégantic, which will be hosting events on the day of the eclipse. Check these eclipse links for details:

• Destination Sherbrooke, which will include links to a related smartphone app when it is ready
• Tourisme Mégantic
• ASTROLab du parc national du Mont-Mégantic, which will include details on the observatory’s eclipse programming closer to the date of the event

Where can I see the 2024 solar eclipse in the U.S.?

2024 solar eclipse map for the United States

The totality will be visible across a wide swath of the United States. As you might expect, NASA has loads of excellent resources on the 2024 eclipse, including the 2024 solar eclipse map above.

The 2024 solar eclipse in New York state

I’m focusing on New York state in this post because it’s the closest state to Ottawa. A wide band of northern and central New York, stretching from Buffalo to the Adirondacks, lies in the path of totality. If you’re planning a New York state eclipse road trip, here are some links to check out.

• North County Public Radio has a page of links and information about eclipse events in northern New York state.
• The Nicandri Nature Center in Massena is offering lots of eclipse-related programming in the weeks leading up to the big event.
• Here’s the scoop on eclipse events and hotel packages in Alexandria Bay.
• The Visit Adirondacks eclipse page has loads of links to events in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, St. Lawrence County and other North Country places.
• For Syracuse, check the Visit Syracuse eclipse page and details on the 2024 Solar Eclipse Festival at the MOST (Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology).
• Visit Finger Lakes has an eclipse information page.
• Rochester Eclipse 2024 has links to events at the Rochester Museum and Science Center and in communities throughout the Rochester region.
• Buffalo Eclipse lists viewing locations and more.
• For statewide information, check the I Love New York eclipse page.

Where else can I see the 2024 solar eclipse?

Weather permitting, the total solar eclipse will also be visible in parts of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In the United States, it will pass over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. And in Mexico, its path will include Mazatlán, Durango, Torreón and Monclova.

For more information on the 2024 total solar eclipse

Keep checking back to this post often, as I’ll be updating it as we get closer to April 8, 2024. In the meantime, here’s a handy list of some of the most useful eclipse sites, many of which I mentioned above.

• Canadian Space Agency
• Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
• Eclipse 2024
• Interactive solar eclipse map (Xavier M. Jubier)
• Ontario eclipse information
• Quebec eclipse information
• New York state eclipse information
• Space.com
• NASA
• TimeAndDate.com

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.