TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL | Top 10,000 Places to Visit in Canada
The page created by Scott Opichal | University of Alberta | Hudson’s Bay Company steamship Grahame at Fort Chipewyan, taken by Joseph Tyrrell, 1890s; Wikimedia Commons
Old Fort Point is the site of the first Fort Chipewyan, established in 1788 by Roderick Mackenzie. It is southeast of Fort Chipewyan.
The point was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1930.
Photo: Fort Chipewyan with Steamer “Grahame” in foreground circa 1900. fortwiki.com/Fort_Chipewyan
Fort Chip is the gateway to Wood Buffalo National Park, which can be reached only by water; it also sits at the western end of Lake Athabasca, where the Athabasca River ends, and evokes the feeling of being on the edge of the world.
It’s one of the biggest parks on the planet and home to free-ranging buffalo. Travellers might want to canoe to a backcountry campsite in search of wolves on the hunt for one of those buffalo.
Beautiful place not to be missed.
Photo: Dru!, flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
This museum in Fort Chipewyan is a replica of the 1870s Hudson’s Bay store. It contains historical artifacts from the fur trade, photographs, and other unique items.
Fort Chipewyan Hudson’s Bay Company post in 1900, by James William Tyrrell, Public Domain
Photo: fortchipmuseum.com
This Latitude of Canada’s 60th Parallel borders the Northwest Territories and offers incredible opportunities to see the magical lights on display. This region has almost 24 hours of daylight in June & July. However, by late August and September, the evening provides darkness with no light pollution from the towns and cities hundreds of kilometres away. Fly into this remote northeast corner of Alberta to witness one of the world’s wonders. Andrew Lake Lodge Cabins are of rustic log construction and can accommodate 2-4 guests each.
Photo: facebook.com/andrewlakelodge/
This park includes the north shore of Lake Athabasca and several islands.
The north shore includes sandstone outcrops, sandy beaches and stranded beach ridges. Jack pine and lichen communities, active blowout dunes and outcrops of Athabasca sandstone typify the north shore. Bustard Island, located near the western end of the lake, with its scenic storm beaches and driftwood, is the largest sand island in Alberta.
Photo: Google Maps
The most recent building, built in 1909 by the Oblate missionaries, is in Northern French Canadian Oblate Mission style (Catholic missionaries to the north were typically French).
Inside, the soaring vaulted ceiling is painted a deep celestial blue, speckled with gold stars and angelic medallions. To make deep red and purple “paint,” the priests and nuns crushed cranberries and blueberries, then mixed the juice with fish oil. It’s a testament to cross-cultural fermentation; Cree and Chipewyan syllabics frame the painting of the Crucifixion; many have observed that the Virgin Mary has distinct First Nations features.
Photo: historicplaces.ca
The Mikisew Cree First Nation (Mikisew) has lived on the ancestral lands of the Athabasca Delta and Wood Buffalo National Park in northeastern Alberta since time immemorial.
Photo: facebook.com/mikisewcreenation
