Tuktut Nogait, meaning “young caribou,” is one of Canada’s least visited parks, protecting the calving grounds of the Bluenose caribou herd near the shores of the storied Northwest Passage. Most visitors experience the park while paddling the canyon-framed Hornaday River. Bird life – peregrine falcons, tundra swans and jaegers – abound, as do ancient Inuit archeological sites. In addition to its namesake caribou herd, La Roncière Falls, a 23-metre-high chute along the Hornaday, provides the other iconic image of this sprawling tundra Utopia. Access Tuktut Nogait by charter plane from Paulatuk.
Here’s what not to miss in Tuktut Nogait.