Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories (NWT) has, since Canada's confederation, been gradually divided up - the most recent being Nunavut. The name "North West Territory" was originally applied to the territory acquired in 1870 from the Hudson's Bay Company and Great Britain. Great Britain transferred the arctic islands to Canada in 1880, which were included in the Northwest Territories. Notable NWT divestitures include Manitoba (1870), Saskatchewan and Alberta (1905), the Yukon Territory (1898) and Nunavut (1999).

Today's Northwest Territories have some amazing features including Great Bear Lake (31,328 sq. km / 12,100 sq. mi.) and Great Slave Lake (28,568 sq. km / 11,000 sq. mi.). Also significant is the Mackenzie River, Basin and tributaries: the total drainage area is 1.8 million sq. km (695,000 sq. mi.) with a length of 4241 km (2635 mi.) making it the longest in Canada.

Yellowknife is called the Diamond Capital of North America as well as being the territory's capital and is situated on the north shore of Great Slave Lake. Yellowknife used to be a gold mine town and now supplies Canada's first diamond mines, 300 km (186 mi.) north.

Check out Yellowknife's waterfront Old Town, where you can eat in log cabin restaurants and watch bush planes depart from Yellowknife Bay.

Yellowknife has air connections to most Northwest Territories destinations.

The largest Canadian National Park is Wood Buffalo National Park, which crosses over the NWT / Alberta border, and is 44,802 sq. km (17,298 sq. mi.). The park was set up on in 1922 to protect the only remaining herd of wild wood bison. It also is the home to several thousand plains bison and the nesting grounds of the extremely endangered whooping crane.

This area stretches from the north shore of Great Slave Lake, to the Barrenlands to Great Bear Lake and is known for bush planes, fishing, boating and canoeing.

This region starts where the Dempster Highway ends and the Mackenzie River encounters the Arctic Ocean. It includes the Mackenzie Delta, Canada's north coast as well as some of the arctic islands.

Nahanni National Park Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fort Simpson provides access and Park interpretation services. In the park is Virginia Falls; at 96 m (316 ft.) it is nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls in Ontario. When in the area, enjoy some curious place names such as Headless Valley, Funeral Range and Cirque of the Unclimbables.

Great Slave Lake is similar to an inland sea and is 614 m (2015 ft.) deep at its deepest and is the second largest freshwater in Canada next to Lake Superior. It feeds the Mackenzie River. Hay River is the largest town where you can take a boat tour or use seakayak on the headwaters of the Mackenzie River.

As the name implies the waterfalls are accessible by road and there are many scenic viewpoints. The NWT Waterfalls Route extends 400 km (250 mi.) along the Mackenzie Highway. Watch for bison, moose and bears.

This features Great Bear Lake (Sahtu in the aboriginal language). Norman Wells is the travel centre and is famous for its pioneer oil well, first drilled in 1921 as a joint US and Canadian effort.