Canada is a country with rich natural resources and some of the most stunning scenery in the world. Starting in 1885 with an Order in Council to preserve the Cave and Basin Hot Springs in Banff to today with the Canada National Parks Act there are now 38 National Parks and 10 National Park Reserves covering 328,198 Km2 (126,718 sq. mi.). This is about 3.3% of the total land area of Canada and represents 30 of the 39 natural regions.
In 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150 years of Confederation (Sesquicentennial anniversary), the government gave free access to all the National Parks in Canada. We started investigating the possibility of visiting all the National Parks in Canada. Having visited most of the parks that can be driven to, we started looking at travelling to the northern more inaccessible parks. We discovered there are few ways to visit many of them and to visit more than one as a tour was very difficult and very expensive. Planes have to be chartered and difficult accommodation reserved. For the most part we want to experience the areas but not make a lifetime adventure of it (even though that would probably be very interesting). To experience the north we anticipate flightseeing, boating, driving (a few areas), hiking, camping, cultural exposure to local indigenous peoples, different foods of the north and flights (lots and lots of flights).
There are 15 Parks in the North
3 in the Yukon – Ivvavik, Kluane, Vuntut
5 in Northwest Territories – Auluvik, Nááts'ihch'oh, Nahanni, Thaidene Nene, Tuktut Nogait
5 in Nunavut – Auyuittuq, Qausuittuq, Quttinirpaaq, Sirmilik, Ukkusiksalik
2 in Labrador - Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains, Torngat Mountains
Our Vision
The Grand Excursion is to visit all the Canadian National Parks in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Labrador.
“Oh, there’s a land and it beckons and beckons ~ and I want to go back ~ and I will!” Robert Service wrote these words after leaving the Yukon. Just over a hundred years ago, Service was a bank clerk in Dawson, Yukon. I visited his small cabin in Dawson while traveling to Inuvik. Service’s words strike me. I lived and travelled in Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories for over a decade. And even now, it is this one period in my life that has so very greatly influenced me. Bill Stinson Co-founder.
One third the land mass of Canada is north of 60 degrees latitude. Yet the population of these three territories is well under 150,000. A vast land of immense beauty, we are fortunate to have so many national parks and preserves. We often describe Canada as a land from sea to sea, east and west. But this reference omits our responsibility to the north. We are a country of sea to sea to sea.
Changes in our global environment have resulted in a warmer Arctic ecosystem. Rising ocean levels, longer periods of open water, thawing of permafrost land, and increasing demand for Arctic resources are just a few of the topics worth further research and public discussion.
Originally our objective was only to explore the National Parks but as our discussions continued, we realized that there are many people that might be interested in finding out more about the huge land mass and islands that are northern Canada and have a willingness to contribute to the community (see Members).
We decided to set up a community through our website.
We thought the various aspects of the community are the residents and those interested in the north, the Indigenous people and their cultural significance to the north, the flora, the fauna, the foods and the land of the north itself with its most interesting aspects such as the Pingos of Tuktoyaktuk, Virginia Falls, the cliffs near Paulantuk or Herschel Island (its significance as a whaling area in the past). There are probably many areas that members could contribute to including the above plus previous experiences in the north and pictures.