I've been up north before and you're right. Especially the skies at night. I still remember my first trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan and the night skies were like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was absolutely amazing to me.
LOL my bud that I was visiting was like 'whats the big deal'?
There are several Dark Sky Sanctuaries and other designations for level of darkness around the world. I live next to one, and even though it is in a mostly unpopulated part of Nevada, it is not considered the darkest. The largest area of dark is an area in Texas.