Aulavik National Park

National Park Of Canada On Northern Banks Island, Established 1992 Under The Inuvialuit Final Agreement; Holds The World'S Densest Muskox Population And The Wreck Of HMS Investigator · Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories

Aulavik means the place where people travel, which is generous, because almost nobody does - this is regularly among the least visited national parks in Canada, with annual visitor numbers you could fit in a minibus. It covers twelve thousand square kilometres of treeless polar desert on northern Banks Island, drained by the Thomsen River, the northernmost navigable river in North America and a gentle enough paddle that the difficulty is entirely in getting to it. What lives here is the reason to try. Banks Island carries the highest density of muskoxen anywhere on earth, tens of thousands of them, along with endangered Peary caribou and Arctic wolves that have rarely seen a person. There are more than three hundred archaeological sites spanning thirty-four centuries. And in Mercy Bay, inside the park, lies HMS Investigator, abandoned in the ice in 1853 and found again in 2010.

Northern Banks Island, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, Canada

Open year round in principle; practically visitable from LATE JUNE TO EARLY AUGUST, when the Thomsen River is paddleable and charter aircraft can operate. THERE IS NO ROAD, NO SCHEDULED FLIGHT, NO TRAIL, NO FACILITY, NO STAFF AND NO CELL COVERAGE. Access is by CHARTERED AIRCRAFT FROM INUVIK, costing tens of thousands of Canadian dollars for the round trip and priced by the aircraft rather than per person. REGISTRATION AND AN ORIENTATION WITH PARKS CANADA ARE MANDATORY. Pickup is weather-dependent and parties should provision for several unplanned days. Carry a satellite phone.

Aulavik National Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos