Quttinirpaaq National Park

The Second Largest National Park In Canada At About 37,775 Square Kilometres, On Northern Ellesmere Island; The Most Northerly Protected Land In North America, Containing Lake Hazen, The Largest Lake North Of The Arctic Circle · Grise Fiord, Nunavut

Quttinirpaaq means the top of the world, and the name is close to literal - this is THE MOST NORTHERLY PROTECTED LAND IN NORTH AMERICA, occupying the top of Ellesmere Island within a few hundred kilometres of the pole. At about thirty-seven thousand seven hundred square kilometres it is THE SECOND-LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN CANADA, and it contains things that exist almost nowhere else: LAKE HAZEN, the largest lake north of the Arctic Circle, which sits in a thermal oasis warm enough to support a surprising amount of life; the Barbeau Peak massif, the highest ground in eastern North America; and ice shelves along the northern coast that have been breaking up within living memory. Thule and pre-Dorset archaeological sites are scattered across it. Fewer people visit in a year than walk through a Toronto subway station in a minute, and reaching it means chartering an aircraft from Resolute at a cost that runs well into five figures.

Northern Ellesmere Island, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada

THERE IS NO GATE, NO STAFF ON SITE FOR MOST OF THE YEAR AND NO FACILITIES OF ANY KIND. THE SEASON IS ROUGHLY LATE JUNE TO EARLY AUGUST - a window of a few weeks when charter aircraft can land and the ground is walkable. ACCESS IS BY CHARTERED TWIN OTTER FROM RESOLUTE BAY, itself reached by scheduled flight from Iqaluit or Yellowknife, and THE CHARTER ALONE COMMONLY RUNS WELL INTO FIVE FIGURES CANADIAN, usually shared between a party. PARKS CANADA REQUIRES REGISTRATION AND DE-REGISTRATION and a mandatory orientation before entry. EVERYTHING MUST BE CARRIED IN AND OUT, including fuel and waste. Weather cancels flights routinely and parties have been stranded for days or weeks. Confirm every detail with Parks Canada's Nunavut field unit long before committing.

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