THE FIFTH ELEMENT Northern Canada
Canada’s three northern territories offer more elemental experiences than the southern or central provinces, says Anthony Lambert
Y
ou have to love remote, rugged back country to relish being in Canada's vast
northern territories, made up largely of empty wilderness. The climate can be brutal and
unforgiving, but for those who love a sense of isolation in spectacular and pristine natural surroundings, the wild landscapes and historic pioneer settlements offer unforgettable holidays. The territories are not best suited for
young families, although teenagers who prefer the outdoors to screens will enjoy adventure tours. Inevitably travel off the beaten track comes at a price; many tourists rely on operators devising bespoke tours, and the potential hazards for the visitor make it folly to think of unguided wilderness adventures, especially in Nunavut.
Northern Canada
YUKON The most popular of the territories with over 300,000 annual visits, Yukon is named after the river which was a major artery until the Klondike Highway opened in the 1950s. It boasts Canada’s highest mountain in Mount Logan (5,959 metres) in Kluane National Park and Reserve, one of the territory’s three national parks. Anglers and kayakers are attracted by the Yukon’s lakes and rivers, and the mountains offer skiing, snowboarding and dog-sledding. Of the three territories Yukon offers
the most accessible and developed tourist attractions, many arising from the gold-rush era when prospectors headed for Dawson City in their thousands. The city became known as
‘the Paris of the north’ and was briefly the largest city west of Winnipeg. The writer Jack London lived there in 1898, and his log cabin can still be visited along with other restored buildings of the period. Dawson City boasts Canada’s most northerly golf course, though its nine holes come with a warning about old mining equipment and moose! The Klondike gold rush spawned one
of the territory’s great tourist attractions, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. Built in1898, the narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Excursions from Skagway (in Alaska) operate over 67 miles of the railway to Carcross in
12 WINTER 2011 • SELLING CANADA
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