Experience the best of Yellowknife

Yellowknife grew in the 1930s after gold was found on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, and it became the territorial capital in 1967. Old Town, on a rocky peninsula, holds floatplane docks, houseboats moored in the bay and weathered log buildings. The Bush Pilot's Monument on the Rock looks across the water, and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre tells the story of the territory's Indigenous peoples.

East of the city, the Ingraham Trail follows lakes, rivers and boreal forest towards Cameron Falls and Prelude Lake. The Yellowknives Dene community of Dettah lies across the bay, and in winter an ice road crosses the frozen water to reach it. The clear, cold skies make this one of the best places to watch the northern lights, mainly from late August to April.

Arctic char, whitefish and lake trout are served fresh or smoked, and caribou and bison appear on northern menus. Summer light lasts nearly round the clock in June, while winters are extremely cold and dark, and on the clearest of those nights the sky fills with the aurora.