Enterprise

Barely an hour north of the Alberta border you'll find Sixtieth Parallel Territorial Park, with a small riverside campground and a visitor centre – open in the summer – full of fascinating displays about the North. From here it’s an easy jaunt to Enterprise, where scenery is spellbinding and adventure is at your doorstep. 

With a population of around 120, Enterprise is synonymous with the open road. The community got its start back in 1948 to serve travellers on the first highway constructed in the Northwest Territories. Then, as now, this was the place where two exciting paths diverged. Highway 2 leads northeast to Great Slave Lake and the communities of Hay River, Fort Resolution and Fort Smith and Wood Buffalo National Park. The Mackenzie Highway, meanwhile, sets off northwest – toward Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, and beyond.

Here, at the intersection of those legendary roadways, you'll find Winnie's Dene Art Gallery and Gift Shop, specializing in high-quality Dene arts and crafts, including moose-hide products, birchbark baskets, fish-scale art, carvings and so much more.

Just steps away from the heart of Enterprise is one of the North's most dramatic attractions – the plunging Hay River Gorge. Here, the honey-brown Hay River slices its way through a dizzying limestone canyon. Follow the flat, forested trail upriver a few kilometres and you'll arrive at two spectacular waterfalls: the multi-level Louise Falls, and her taller, flashier sister Alexandra, a 107-foot-high earthshaking torrent.

Nearby you'll find viewing platforms, picnic facilities and Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park, one of the most popular campgrounds in the Northwest Territories, and a perfect base to explore the Enterprise area.

Half an hour north of Enterprise at Hay River, meanwhile, are additional accommodations and attractions.