Parks on the Islands

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve

In the southern portion of the Haida Archipelago, 215 km southwest of Prince Rupert on Canada's West cost and 640km north pf Vancouver, is Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It is a remote area only accesible by boat or chartered aircraft/

Cooperatively managed by the Government of Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation, this roughly triangular wilderness area of 138 islands stretched 90km from north to south.

Gwaii Haanas offers a unique blend of natural and cultural features. To the west, the mountains rise steeply. To the eat, the coastline is dotted with inlets, bays, and islands, while rainforest and upland bog, salmon streams, estuaries and kelp beds sustain a rich diversity of life. The relationship between the land, the sea, and the living culture of the Haida people is powerful and dynamic.

Gwaii Haanas combines rare opportunities to experience wilderness, solitude, spirituality, adventure, discovery, and Haida culture. Wildlife encounters may include whales, bald eagles, colourful intertidal life, or some of the 1 million seabirds nesting along the shores, as well as black bears, river otters and sea lions. Some of the vegetation and wildlife are unique to these islands.

SGang Gwaay is a unique gem in the UNESCO World Heritage Site listings. Here and at other ancient Haida village sites in Gwaii Haanas, the Haida Gwaii Watchmen act as hosts and guardians.

For trip planning information, including sea kayaking tips and "no trace" camping practices, visit the Gwaii Haanas website. Each traveller entering the protected area must attend an orientation session, and reservations are required if you plan to travel independantly. To make a reservation, or to receive trip planning advice, call 1-877-559-8818.

Naikoon Provincial Park

Naikoon Provincial Park is situated on the northeast part of Graham Island and covers an area of 72,640 hectare of Haida Gwaii. The word Naikoon is a corruption of the word "Nai-kun" meaning "long nose", which is the Haida name for Rose Spit.

It is a park of diverse environments - sandy beaches, sphagnum bogs, sand dunes, old-growth forests, rivers, and oceans. The landscape was formed from the deposits left by the melt waters from glaciers of the last ice age. The park is largely low and flat and is mostly formed of low bog lands surrounded by stunted lodge pole pine, red and yellow cedar. Sitka spruce and hemlock flourish in well drained areas. The vegetation on the beaches is similar along the whole coastline of the park. Behind the driftwood zone is a semi-established dune area which becomes progressively more stable in the adjacent forest growing out of old beach ridges and dunes. In all the varied and rigourous environments, close examination will reveal plants specially adapted for survival.

The main attraction of Naikoon Provincial Park is its seemingly endless kilometres of broad sand beaches. Towl Hill, a 100 metre outcrop of basalt columns stands out as a prominent landmark on the north beach and Rose Spit, an ecological reserve that offers great opportunities to observe migrating birds traveling south on the Pacific flyway.

Add to this the rich heritage and mystic of the Haida culture and the more recent settler history and you have a truly unique experience. Naikoon has two vehicle access campgrounds and endless opportunities for wilderness walk-in camping.

Misty Meadows campground is located at the south end of the park just behind the sand dunes in the community of Tlell and provides a great central base for fishing the Tlell River, boating on Mayer Lake, hiking East Beach, and exploring the rest of the islands. It is located on Hwy 16 about 40 minutes North of the BC Ferry Landing.

Agate Beach campground, located 26 km east of Masset offers beachfront campsites and easy access to Tow Hill, North Beach, and the Cape Fife Trailhead.

Both campgrounds offer picnic shelters to dry out on rainy days, pit toilets, water, and firewood. Open year round there is a fee collected from id May through September. Reservations are not available for either campground. Wilderness camping is permitted throughout the park, with three rustic shelters located along East Beach at the mouths of the Cape Ball and Oceanda Rivers, and at Fife Point. Naikoon is considered a wilderness park without supplies of any kind. For more information on Naikoon park and hiking the East beach, please visit BC Parks.