Northwest Territories Travel Guide
Virginia Falls (Nailicho), Nahanni National Park Reserve. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
The Northwest Territories are Canada's aurora capital: Yellowknife sits under the auroral oval, with northern lights visible some 240 nights a year. Winter is the main season, though summer brings the midnight sun and lake country in full.
Nahanni National Park Reserve guards the South Nahanni River and Virginia Falls, twice the height of Niagara, in one of the continent's great wilderness river trips. Great Slave Lake, the deepest lake in North America, anchors Yellowknife's houseboats and fishing.
Key destinations in Northwest Territories
Aurora borealisYellowknife's northern lights, mid-August to April.
Virginia Falls (Nailicho)The 96-metre falls in Nahanni National Park Reserve.
Wood Buffalo National ParkCanada's largest national park, shared with Alberta: bison and whooping cranes.
Great Slave LakeThe deepest lake in North America; houseboats and ice roads in winter.
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Top Cities & towns in Northwest Territories
Getting there
Yellowknife (YZF) is the gateway, with flights from Edmonton and Calgary. The Mackenzie Highway (1) connects to Alberta. Nahanni trips are fly-in expeditions: book with a licensed operator.