Canada
Nahanni National Park Reserve
A waterfall twice Niagara's height hidden in a canyon so remote it has no roads.
Virginia Falls hits the canyon floor with a roar audible from a kilometre away, 96 metres of white water crashing through a mist that soaks everything within range. The canyon walls of the South Nahanni River rise over 1,000 metres on either side, smooth limestone carved by a river older than the mountains it cuts through.
Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories is one of the most remote wilderness areas in North America — no roads enter the park, and every visitor arrives by bush plane or multi-day canoe trip. The Nahanni River runs through four massive canyons, each deeper than the last, before reaching Virginia Falls — nearly twice the height of Niagara. Tufa mounds near Rabbitkettle hot springs have been building for over 10,000 years into terraced mineral towers. The Dene people have lived in these canyons for thousands of years, and the river's rapids, hot springs, and deep caves feature in their oral histories. The park was one of the first four UNESCO World Heritage Sites designated in 1978.
Solo
The multi-day canoe trip through the canyons is one of the world's elite solo wilderness experiences. You'll spend days without seeing another person, navigating Class III rapids between thousand-metre walls.
Friends
A group canoe expedition through Nahanni's four canyons is the kind of shared experience that bonds friends for life. The combination of whitewater, remote camping, and Virginia Falls is unmatched.
- Virginia Falls drops 96 metres — nearly twice the height of Niagara — in a canyon accessible only by floatplane or multi-day canoe trip.
- Tufa mounds near Rabbitkettle hot springs have been building for 10,000 years into terraced mineral towers.
- The Nahanni River is one of the world's elite multi-day whitewater canoe routes, running through four massive canyons.
- No roads enter the park — every visitor arrives by bush plane, making it one of the most exclusive wilderness experiences in North America.
Campfire-cooked trout pulled from the South Nahanni River, seasoned with nothing but smoke and salt.
Bannock baked on a stick over open flame — the bush bread of the Dene Tha'.
Dehydrated trail meals taste gourmet when eaten beneath Virginia Falls at golden hour.
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