Nahanni National Park

Nahanni National Park
Photo in the Public Domain.

Nahanni National Park Reserve is an undisturbed river, canyon and cave landscape.

It is the breeding habitat of four endangered species: peregrine falcons, golden eagles, bald eagles and trumpeter swans. The park is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada and sees only about 5000 visitors a year.

The centrepiece of the park is the South Nahanni River. Four great canyons, called First, Second, Third and Fourth Canyon, line this spectacular whitewater river.

The name Nahanni comes from the indigenous Dene language and can be translated as 'spirit.'

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Gary Arndt

USA - 31-Jan-19 -

Nahanni National Park by Gary Arndt

Nahanni National Park might very well be the greatest national park in the world. That is a big statement, but anyone who has been to Nahanni (and few people have) can back it up.

Nahanni is home to one of the world's largest waterfalls (Virginia Falls) which is higher than Niagara Falls and has a flow comparable with Victoria Falls in Africa.

That alone would be enough to make it a world heritage sites. However, it is also home to the Cirque du Unclimables, which is a stunning collection of mountain peaks, and the Ram Canyon, which is one of the most impressive canyons in the world. 

Nahanni only gets about 800 visitors per year. There are no roads to the park, so the only way to enter is by hiking or float plane. There is also a very short season of about 2 months where visitors can enter. 

Read more from Gary Arndt here.

Sid Stark

USA - 07-Jun-05 -

It has been almost twenty years since I had the awe-inspiring and quite humbling experience of sticking my (and my buddy's) canoe into the river and wending down one of the most beautiful spots one could imagine on earth.

For the first three days after the plane dropped us off, we (veterans of canoe/kayak trips much longer than this one) were like tourists -- gawking agape at the size, beauty, and power of the river, its attendant mountain peaks, and the furry/feathered creatures that called this jewel home. It was, and is, like nothing I had seen before or since.

Enjoy your trip to this wilderness paradise!

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Site Info

Full Name
Nahanni National Park
Unesco ID
24
Country
Canada
Inscribed
1978
Type
Natural
Criteria
7 8
Categories
Natural landscape - Eroded Natural landscape - Karst landscapes and caves
Link
By ID

Site History

1978 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Nahanni National Park
Official Website

Parks Canada

In the News

Nahanni Gets Six-fold Expansion (2009.06.10)

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Nahanni National Park

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Ecology
Travertine pools
Big Waterfalls: Virginia Falls
Bears: Grizzly bears
Gray Wolf
Boreal Forest or Taiga
Significant Karst Features: World's foremost example of karst development in cold climate conditions. (AB ev)
Geography
Canyons: Four smaller canyons
Individual Rivers: South Nahanni River
Cirques: Cirque of the Unclimbables in Nahanni
Religion and Belief
Legends and Folk Myths: Deadmen Valley: "the area is long known for having people disappear only to turn up without their heads"
Timeline
Cretaceous: Dramatic mountain-building began approximately 110 million years ago when molten volcanic rock from deep within the earth rose to within 3000 m of the surface where it hardened and cooled. This force pushed up the sedimentary rock above and around the intrusion, creating the mountain ranges that surround the Nahanni River. (Parks Canada website)
Trivia
Reportedly haunted locations : "Many tribes were afraid to settle within the region as they believed it to be an evil, haunted place inhabited by various spirits, specters, and devils." There is also a legend of violent deaths: multiple people have been found dead with their head cut off and nowhere to be found. "In addition to the mysterious beheadings, a good many others simply went missing without a trace. (...) Other phenomena have been reported from here as well. Mysterious lights and UFOs have long been sighted in the valley, as well as other unusual aerial phenomena."
Cryptozoology: "The area is also known for its cryptids, as it is a hotspot for Bigfoot activity and is believed by some to hold a remnant population of a type of bear-like carnivore called the bear dog, or Amphicyonidae, which was thought to have gone extinct in the Pleistocene epoch."
Visiting conditions
No road access: By float plane or canoe/kayak (although hiking is also possible)
Seasonal WHS: charter flights only between June to September and the rivers would be frozen in winter so rafting/canoeing is out of the question - which are the only two realistic ways to access it
WHS on Other Lists
World Heritage Forest Programme

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