Liard. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
Craft Store in Inuvik has a good selection of
locally made moccasins, carvings, jewellery,
crafts and some traditional food.
MUST SEE, MUST DO
During the summer, eat locally sourced
reindeer dishes and fish and chips cooked
inside a converted school bus at Alestine's and
served on a terrace overlooking the Mackenzie
River in Inuvik north of the Arctic Circle.
Travel along the edge of scenic Yellowknife
Bay in a 12-person voyageur canoe for a
Floating Dinner Theatre experience in the
summer with Narwal Northern Adventures.
Feast on a traditional meal of soup and
bannock, accompanied by lively entertain-
ment (www.narwal.ca/tours).
Participate in the Thebacha & Wood Buffalo
Dark Sky Festival, northern Canada's only
celebration of space and science. This family
event is held in late August in Fort Smith and
Wood Buffalo National Park, the world's
largest Dark Sky Preserve (www.tawbas.ca).
Get a bird's-eye view of the landscape during
a flightseeing tour (www.spectacularnwt.com/
what-to-do/tours/flight-tours).
SCENIC DRIVES
Travel through two mountain ranges and the
Continental Divide, and take your photo at the
Arctic Circle when you drive the iconic 740-km
(460-mi.) Dempster Highway from Dawson
City, Yukon to Inuvik (www.yukoninfo.com/
Inuvik-nwt/driving-the-dempster). Then
continue on and drive all the way to the tiny
community of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean.
Make like an ice road trucker. Drive the 6.5 km
(4.0 mi.) winter road that links Dettah to
Yellowknife. There are also winter roads that
link Fort Simpson to communities in the
Mackenzie Valley and a route from Fort
Smith to Fort Chipewyan, AB.
FAMILY FUN
Climb into a sled and listen to the sound of
excited huskies barking with anticipation.
Then silence descends when you hit the trail
and feel the power of a team of dogs pulling
you through the forest during a dogsledding
excursion (www.spectacularnwt.com/what-
to-do/winteractivities/dogsledding). In
summer, the Great Northern Arts Festival offers
workshops for both kids and adults.
National Parks and Historic Sites:
www.parkscanada.gc.ca
1-888-773-8888
Park Pick
AULAVIK NATIONAL PARK
Aulavik means "place where people
travel" in the local Inuvialuktun
language. This remote, fly-in only Arctic
park is located on Banks Island near
the community of Sachs Harbour.
Aulavik is home to the endangered
Peary caribou and the world's highest
concentration of muskox. The
landscape includes rolling hills, buttes,
badlands, river valleys and seacoasts.
The Thomsen River, one of the
continent's most northerly navigable
rivers, runs through the heart of the
park. The land has supported pre-
Dorset cultures and the Inuvialuit
people for more than 3,400 years
(www.parkscanada.gc.ca/aulavik).
NT
107
NORTHERN LIGHTS • DESTINATION CANADA/MARTINA GEBAROVSKA
