Welcome to the North…
An untamed wilderness
The Northwest Territories is some of the last wilderness of North America to be tamed – home to vast forests, deep lakes, extreme cold, warm Teepees and the spectacular Aurora Borealis.
There are three territories north of 60 that make up around half of the landmass of Canada – east to west you have Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
With vast landscapes that will open your mind and wilderness that you can feel in your bones it really is the ‘Spectacular’ NWT. Without a doubt one of the last frontiers of the world – it’s within reach but beyond belief.
The Landscape
The paries of Alberta to the south give way to a vast and sprawling rocky landscape with boreal forests that stretch endlessly with not much more than stone, wood and water. Lakes dot the horizon in the thousands with rivers feeding the deep waters and the incredible biodiversity of Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes.
The land eventually rises to the Mackenzie mountains and the river of the same name. The mighty Mackenzie river weaves makes its way across the land of the Dehcho, Sahtu, Gwich’in and Inuvialuit.
Climate
The Northwest Territories climate is mostly cool and dry, with beautiful temperate, sunny summers, in which temperatures rarely rise above 25°C (77°F), and long, yet stunning, winters during which the thermometer can plunge below -40°C (-40°F).
To stay warm we start with suggesting you wear layers. Get yourself layered with nice comfortable layers you can peel off as you like then cover up with winter clothing like a Parka, ski pants, a facemask and gloves…. learn more here about our winter clothing.
Our Summers
Yes it gets hot! We have such incredible lakes and rivers and summer is one of the best times to visit. Although we don’t see the Aurora again until we start our season in August visiting at this time will give you beautiful reflections on the lakes for your photos and the chance to see the stunning sunsets before the nightly Aurora show.
We take our guests out on freighter canoes to explore the great slave lake as well as getting into the Boreal Forest with our hiking tours. You can venture south a wee ways to see the wild buffalo (bison) as the roam the prairies in the summer heat.
Art and Culture
The NWT is home to many different first nation (Indigenous) cultures and Yellowknife is the home of the Yellowknife Dene. Originally yellowknife got its name from the ‘Copper Indians’ or ‘Yellowknives’ – who fashioned knives from naturally occurring copper in the area. Our roots come from these lands with our origins from the Cree, Tłı̨chǫ (dogrib) and Métis nations.
The rich art and history is shared across the region you will see variations of moose or caribou hide clothing with ‘Moccasins’ being a favourite item in our gift shop. The music and dancing shows off the cultures of the NWT and if you are lucky you can enjoy a cultural performance while you are visiting the NWT.
