Katannilik Territorial Park

Nunavut Territorial Park Protecting The Soper River, A Canadian Heritage River, On Southern Baffin Island; Katannilik Means The Place Where There Are Falls, And The Valley Is Unusually Green For The Arctic · Kimmirut, Nunavut

KATANNILIK MEANS THE PLACE WHERE THERE ARE FALLS, and the park protects the valley of the SOPER RIVER - a CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER running south across the Meta Incognita Peninsula from the interior plateau down to Kimmirut on Hudson Strait. What makes the valley remarkable is how GREEN it is: sheltered from the worst of the Arctic wind and warmed by its own microclimate, it supports willow and birch thickets, wildflowers and a density of plant life that is startling at sixty-three degrees north, and Inuit have long used it for that reason. Waterfalls come off the valley walls all along it. THE CLASSIC TRIP IS THE SOPER RIVER TRAVERSE - hiking or paddling roughly a hundred kilometres from the Itijjagiaq trailhead down to Kimmirut over a week or so, which is one of the few multi-day routes in the Arctic that does not require a charter aircraft at both ends.

Soper River valley between Kimmirut and Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Kimmirut, Nunavut, Canada

SEASONAL AND REMOTE. The practical season is ROUGHLY LATE JUNE TO EARLY SEPTEMBER, when the valley is snow-free and the river is runnable. ACCESS IS FROM IQALUIT OR KIMMIRUT, both reached by scheduled flight - the ITIJJAGIAQ TRAIL runs overland from near Iqaluit across the plateau to the Soper valley, and boat access from Kimmirut serves the lower river. THE NUNAVUT PARKS SYSTEM ASKS VISITORS TO REGISTER AND DE-REGISTER, and given the remoteness that is worth doing properly. THERE ARE EMERGENCY SHELTERS ALONG THE ROUTE but no serviced facilities. LOCAL OUTFITTERS FROM KIMMIRUT AND IQALUIT RUN GUIDED TRIPS and arrange boat transfers. RIVER CROSSINGS AND WEATHER ARE THE PRACTICAL HAZARDS. Polar bears occur near the coast. Confirm arrangements with Nunavut Parks before travelling.

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