Ice-age glaciers, mountain peaks, iconic wildlife: This is one of Canada's most adventurous — and undiscovered — national parks
thestar.com/travel
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The small plane glides across the blinding expanse of ice and snow-capped alpine peaks, revealing a frozen landscape dominated by deep glacial valleys and Canada's tallest mountains. For Sian Williams, president of
Icefield Discovery Tours
, a 'flightseeing' tour in Kluane National Park and Reserve is like travelling back in time to experience the Earth's last ice age. 'It's a life-changing experience, seeing those huge mountains rising out of the glacier,' she says.
The Yukon's short yet intense summer and early fall, when the territory's warmer weather welcomes travellers under a golden midnight sun, are the perfect time to experience Kluane's extraordinary topography.
Flightseeing over the mighty Kaskawulsh Glacier.
Established in 1972,
Kluane National Park and Reserve
is part of the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation and the White River First Nation.
The landscape includes more than 2,000 glaciers, which make up the largest nonpolar ice field in the world. Kluane is also home to 17 of Canada's 20 tallest mountains, including its highest peak, Mount Logan, which touches the sky at 5,959 metres.
'These big mountains are completely hidden from the highway, so unless you do a long hiking trip, flying is the best way to see them,' notes Williams. Before the 1990s, pilots mainly carried glaciologists, scientists and mountaineers into the park. But over the past 35 years, there's been a steady rise in the popularity of flightseeing. 'It's really become a thing to do when you come to Kluane,' Williams says.
P
eaks of the St. Elias Mountains
jut above the Kluane ice field.
Travellers can climb aboard a small single-engine Helio Courier or a larger eight-passenger Pilatus Porter plane equipped with wheel-skis, taking off from a gravel landing strip and landing right on a frozen glacier. The change in topography and weather can be abrupt, but the awe-inspiring views are worth the thrill ride.
Glaciers play a crucial role in our planet's climate, which is why the UN designated 2025 the 'International Year of Glaciers' Preservation' as an awareness-raising campaign. While the upper parts of Kluane's ice field are still accumulation zones, where snow builds and feeds the glaciers, they are thinning, Williams says.
The Lowell Glacier no longer surges across the river to flood Haines Junction, and the retreat of the Kaskawulsh Glacier has accelerated since the 1950s. 'We are seeing climate change in action before our eyes,' says Williams.
You can access Kluane's wonders even without taking to the skies. Hiking is the most popular activity in the park and reserve, which spans 22,000 square kilometres altogether.
The writer looks out at Kathleen Lake from a classic Parks Canada red chair in Kluane National Park and Reserve.
Backcountry hikers can trek into this wilderness from valley floors or plane drops, passing through stunning boreal forests and spectacular mountain ranges, and sharing the rugged terrain with some of Canada's most iconic wildlife. Large moose, grizzly and black bears, wolves, Dall sheep and herds of caribou roam various sections of the park.
Trekkers can plan their own routes or book with experienced backcountry tour operators such as
Terre Boréale
, a family-owned, B Corp-certified company that has been leading small-group guided hiking and canoeing tours in the park since 2013.
By flight, by foot or by watercraft, a visit to the land of Canada's tallest mountains is the height of adventure.
Claudia Laroye travelled as a guest of
Travel Yukon
, which did not review or approve this article.
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