Best way to experience N.W.T. is by dogsled
It’s hard to top the Northern Lights for sheer spectacle, but the lesser lights of Yellowknife want you to know there’s more than one show in town.
Take dog-sledding, for instance. The capital of the Northwest Territories, the little city with just 20,000 residents but plenty of big-city swagger, is one of the best places in Canada to hitch yourself to a pack of huskies and experience the north as it’s meant to be seen.
“Dog-sledding is an exhilarating activity to try as you learn how many Aboriginal people and early settlers first travelled around the N.W.T.,” says entrepreneur and writer Kyle Thomas, who grew up in Yellowknife.
“There is also nothing quite like going on a dog-sled ride while the aurora dance overhead.”
His Yellowknife Online site (ykonline.ca) lists several dog-sled operators to get you started, as well as a wealth of information for firsttime visitors and new residents alike. Here’s a sample:
The Tugah Traditional Dogsledding Experience, led by a family with generations of history in the region, weaves education in with the fun, letting tourists learn and participate in how dog teams were used and cared for in the days before snowmobiles roared to the forefront of northern transportation. (tugah.com)
At Beck’s Kennels, sledding champion Grant Beck has been hosting visitors for over two decades with a selection of day trips and longer expeditions. You can drive your own team or be transported in comfort around Grace Lake, with lots of opportunities to bond with the dogs and take photos. (beckskennels.com)
At the Indigenous-owned Aurora Village, wannabe mushers can chill at a traditional Teepee Village before heading out with a team of 12 dogs through wooded lakeside trails. Opened in 2000, Aurora’s mandate is to share the Indigenous heritage, culture and traditions of the Northwest Territories with its guests. (auroravillage.com)
The newest operators on the block are Enodah Kennels, located outside the city. With 30 dogs in their care, Coady and Cynthia offer 40-minute guided or self-driven tours and pride themselves on the “exceptional” care shown to their
Alaskan huskies, which are noted for their strength and stamina. “Our dogs are all let off their tether loose every day and come to and from the gangline on their own with no leash,” they say. (enodah.com)
The folks at Sundog Adventures add a twist by letting visitors be pulled by a pair of huskies on a “kicksled,” a traditional Swedish
form of winter transport that combines skis with a handlebar and seat. The 45-minute trips on Great Slave Lake include a visit to Yellowknife’s Ice Caves and end with a hot drink at their Old Town log cabin. They also host snowshoe excursions to the Back Bay Cemetery. (sundogadventures.ca)
Making the most of winter is the
watchword at Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures, where snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice road tours and aurora viewing are part of its “great northern experience.” Dog-sledding, either guided or self-driven, is arranged on request and overseen by experienced staff. (yellowknifeoutdooradventures.com)
Specializing in bush flying and winter treks, Hoarfrost River Huskies delivers customized dog-team expeditions. You’ll be sold when you see the photo of Pobie, Noodle, Rev and Mallemuk on their website. (hoarfrostriver.ca)
Though it’s a popular tourist activity, dog-sledding is still an integral part of life in N.W.T. and a good team is highly prized and well treated, says the City of Yellowknife,
which recommends a ride in a carriole, a comfortable oak toboggan with canvas sides.
As for the dogs, they’re “usually a pretty friendly bunch,” with “delightful” puppies. It’s all good fun and good exercise.
If you’d rather admire the mush hour from a distance, join the spectators at the Canadian Championship Dog Derby, Yellowknife’s biggest dog-sledding event held over three days in late March.
Described as a must-see for visitors, it’s a 240-kilometre race on Great Slave Lake pitting a dozen or more teams against the elements. (canadianchampionshipdogderby. com)
Barking and snapping, the dogs bolt at the starting gun through snow-sided chutes, occasionally resulting in a “tangle of harnesses” when an errant team decides to cross into a neighbour’s path.
If you’re ready for some off-leash diversions, Yellowknife packs plenty into its small frame.
Its role as the “diamond capital of North America” is explored at the N.W.T. Diamond Centre, while the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre emphasizes the territories’ Indigenous peoples, its early explorers and aviation history.
Fan of reality TV’S Ice Pilots NWT? Check out the hangar tours of Buffalo Airways, which made stars of the crusty “Buffalo Joe” and his fleet of war-era DC-3 bush planes.
While diamonds and Northern Lights tourism define much of the N.W.T. capital’s modern economy, it was the rush for gold that gave rise to permanent settlement.
The last gold mine closed in the early 2000s, but the yellow metal fever that seeded a ramshackle clump of log shacks, prospector tents and shanties on a lonely, isolated bay lives on in Old Town, Yellowknife’s original homestead.
Here you’ll find its first bank, a log cabin, as well as the legendary Wildcat Café, a designated heritage site, and founding business Weaver & Devore. Self-guided tours are available through a downloadable brochure or audio app.
For a city that was isolated from the outside world until 1960 when a highway finally connected the capital to the rest of Canada, Yellowknife has become not only a leading purveyor of aurora borealis experiences but a leading light in Canadian tourism.