Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve

National Park Reserve Established In 2019 Covering About 14,000 Square Kilometres Of The East Arm Of Great Slave Lake; Established At The Request Of And Co Managed With The Lutsel K'E Dene First Nation · Lutsel Ke, Northwest Territories

Thaidene Nene means the land of the ancestors, and the park exists because THE LUTSEL K'E DENE FIRST NATION SPENT MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS ASKING FOR IT - they turned down an earlier proposal in the 1970s that would have excluded them from their own territory, and held out until an agreement was reached on their terms. It was established in 2019, covers roughly fourteen thousand square kilometres of the EAST ARM OF GREAT SLAVE LAKE, and is co-managed by the Dene, the territorial government and Parks Canada together. The landscape is the reason: the East Arm is where the Canadian Shield meets the deepest lake in North America, producing red cliffs dropping straight into water six hundred metres deep, islands, waterfalls and a boundary where boreal forest gives out to barrenlands. There are no roads. Access is by float plane or boat from Yellowknife or Lutsel K'e, and visitor numbers are tiny.

East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Akaitcho territory, Lutsel Ke, Northwest Territories, Canada

NO GATE, NO SET HOURS AND VERY LITTLE INFRASTRUCTURE - this is a new park reserve and it is deliberately being developed slowly, on the Dene's terms. THE PRACTICAL SEASON IS ROUGHLY LATE JUNE TO EARLY SEPTEMBER, when the lake is free of ice and float planes and boats can operate; a WINTER SEASON EXISTS for those travelling by snowmobile with local guides. ACCESS IS BY FLOAT PLANE OR BOAT FROM YELLOWKNIFE OR FROM LUTSEL K'E, and there is no road of any kind. PARKS CANADA ASKS VISITORS TO REGISTER, and TRAVELLING WITH LUTSEL K'E DENE GUIDES AND OUTFITTERS IS BOTH THE INTENDED WAY TO VISIT AND THE PRACTICAL ONE. A small number of lodges operate on the East Arm. Costs run to thousands of dollars. Confirm everything with Parks Canada's NWT field unit and with the community before committing.

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