Hay River
Great Slave Lake at Hay River, Northwest Territories. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
The Northwest Territories' second-largest community, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Known as the Hub of the North, it is the territory's rail, shipping, and commercial fishing centre, where goods transfer from rail and truck to barges bound for isolated northern communities. Summer brings long sandy beaches; nearby Twin Falls Gorge holds the 32-metre Alexandra Falls.