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Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Dramatic fiords, towering cliffs, a landscape that looks like another world: This is one of Canada's most beautiful places
Only in Canada is a travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for more Only in Canada stories online at . It's as iconic as the Grand Canyon or Machu Picchu or Victoria Falls, except it's in Western Newfoundland. This place of spellbinding natural beauty is one you've probably seen before, on TV commercials or social media posts: a long, winding inland fiord; cliffs rising some 700 metres on each side; frothy waterfalls plunging from far above, casting a fine mist upon any little tour boats. 'At one point, these cliffs might have been as high as the Himalayas,' says guide Shelley Hann of BonTours , narrating as the views keep getting better with every turn in Gros Morne National Park. She adds that she often sees moose and caribou and bear along the banks and up on the flanks. This body of water, Western Brook Pond, was a true ocean fiord until about 8,000 years ago. 'This is all freshwater,' she says, adding that it swims with salmon and arctic char, 'but we still find seashells and whale bones.' Travellers can explore Western Brook Pond on boat excursions offered by companies such as BonTours. Western Brook Pond is just one of the many wonders of Gros Morne National Park . The 1,805-square-kilometre expanse is a UNESCO World Heritage site, recognized not just for its natural beauty but also its exceptional glacial features and geological marvels. The most famous example of the latter: the Tablelands, one of the few places in the world where you can walk on the Earth's mantle. This middle layer, below the crust, was thrust upward here during the collision of ancient continents approximately half a billion years ago. Hiking the mantle's rusty, Mars-like splendour is one popular option. But the landscape of the Tablelands is also beautiful when you view it from below, along the shores of Bonne Bay, on a guided boat tour. Those rocks rise dramatically from the surrounding boreal forest, their orange-red hues contrasting with the green all around. The desert-like Tablelands is one of the few places in the world where you can walk on the Earth's mantle. 'About 10,000 years ago, the glaciers receded, scraping those mountains and creating these valleys,' says Keith Payne, a guide with Gros Morne Adventures , navigating a path along the water. Bonne, he says, is actually a fiord, with all sorts of sea life, including minke whales you might spot a few metres from the shoreline path. In addition to shoreline walks, experiences within the national park are manifold. And due to its relative remoteness, crowds tend to be mercifully minimal. You can hike along the headlands above the village of Trout River and never encounter another person. Or indulge in a lobster boil on the beach, with just your friends, and the fishing boats rolling by. There's even some luxury to enjoy, like sitting in an outdoor cedar hot tub at the Gros Morne Inn , with views of Bonne Bay and the bald dome of the park's namesake mountain spread out before you. For hikers, Gros Morne National Park also offers more than 100 kilometres of trails, from easy to strenuous. Taking a backcountry tour with Under the Stump will give you a rarely seen angle on that same summit. From the picturesque fishing town of Rocky Harbour (population: 937), co-owner Trina Reid will steer you in an off-road vehicle across the highway and onto a trail in the park. Soon, the crown of Gros Morne Mountain (height: 806 metres) will rise ahead. The trail to the top is a popular hike, but not for the faint of heart. The 17-kilometre return trip takes the adventurous (and experienced) through challenging terrain, into an arctic-alpine environment. Those who brave it might spot rock ptarmigan or even caribou along the way. And the prize for summiting: 360-degree views that include the Ten Mile Pond gorge and the rugged Long Range Mountains. But a tour with Reid is all about the natural beauty of the wilderness down below. She recalls that, until 1967, there was no road up the Great Northern Peninsula — which is basically all of Newfoundland north of here. 'Back then, it was either the coastal boat or dog team, or you walked it.' She jokes that despite the immensity of the wilderness, you really can't get lost: 'Just put the mountain behind you, and you'll walk to the sea.' At the tour's end, Reid brings travellers back to a cabin she shares with her husband and co-owner, Perry, for a steaming meal of 'land and sea' (for example, moose soup and fish cakes). It pairs perfectly with the views all the way back to the rusty expanse of the Tablelands, many kilometres away. It's just an ideal Newfoundland combination: down-home hospitality, a super-local meal and a landscape of otherworldly wonders. And something you'll only find in Gros Morne National Park. Tim Johnson travelled as a guest of Go Western Newfoundland , which did not review or approve this article.
Hamilton Spectator
18-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
In this Canadian city, strolling the romantic cobblestone streets is like exploring an open-air museum
Only in Canada is a travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for more Only in Canada stories online at . The lobby of the ritzy Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City is decorated with cracked glass jars, broken bits of mud-stained pottery and archaic ceramic pipes mounted in display cases. Billed as a 'museum hotel,' the auberge isn't simply playing up Old Quebec's history-steeped reputation: It's located on a site settled by Europeans in the 1600s, so every time the owners expand or renovate their property, they need to do a proper archeological dig, uncovering the treasures on display. 'It is essential that our hotel highlights the city's history,' says Evan Price, who co-owns Auberge Saint-Antoine with his family, 'and we do it in a way that blends into the design and decoration of the property.' While this hotel, and similarly historic properties such as the legendary Fairmont Le Château Frontenac , intentionally leans into its storied past, discovering remnants of early Canadian history is inevitable in just about every corner of Old Quebec. Auberge Saint-Antoine, billed as a 'museum hotel,' is located on a site settled by Europeans in the 1600s. People often describe Quebec City as the closest thing you can find to old European elegance in North America, but the historic quarter has a flavour and charm all its own. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Vieux-Québec was founded in the early 17th century by Samuel de Champlain. The explorer sought a place for a New France colony on the St. Lawrence River and settled on a site bordered by the important port area, which was, for the aim of building a new country, crucial for trade and defence. Ramparts were erected to protect against attacks from the British and other potential invaders. Today, this is the only early North American settlement to have maintained those defensive walls. The way that early settlers would have protected and simply lived in the city comes to life in these remarkably well-preserved streets. Old Quebec is divided into two sections: the Upper Town (made famous by images of Le Château Frontenac looming over a dramatic clifftop) and the riverside Lower Town. The cobblestone streets of the latter are home to Auberge Saint-Antoine, as well as must-sees like the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church and adjacent Place-Royale, the town square representing the first permanent French settlement in the Americas. You can absorb the historic atmosphere by simply strolling around the streets of Petit-Champlain. From here, it's possible to reach the dizzying views of Upper Town's Dufferin Terrace on foot, though the walk up is punishingly steep. Visitors with mobility issues or those simply wanting to spare their calves can hop on the Old Quebec Funicular, a short cable rail line, which has been hauling people up the hill since 1879. (Don't worry, the technology has been improved along the way.) From both the upper and lower vantage points, there are layers of history here, representing New France settlements, British military victories and the transition toward modern Canada. Old Quebec's narrow stone streets are lined with historical buildings now housing art galleries, antique shops and the first Simons department store (which only dates back to 1870). You can drink in the 400-year-old atmosphere by simply strolling around rue du Petit-Champlain, or dig deeper with a visit to the Plains of Abraham , a large green space that was the site of major French/English battles in the 1700s; La Citadelle du Québec , a military fortress that serves as part of the city's fortification; or Forts-et-Châteaux-Saint-Louis, an archeological crypt under Dufferin Terrace. The Plains of Abraham, a national historic park of Canada, was the site of major French/English battles in the 1700s. The streets of Old Quebec are undoubtedly touristy. In the peak season, the area buzzes with cruise-ship travellers trailing interpretive guides (there's no shame in lingering among them to pick up some historical facts). For every cool artisanal shop and thoughtful, chef-driven Quebecois restaurant in the area, you'll find a cheesy souvenir shop or over-crowded poutinerie, but ultimately the crowds reflect the distinctiveness of this place. In a country with so little recorded history reaching beyond a handful of generations, being able to walk in those early settlers' footsteps is essential to understanding not only how Canada started, but also how we have evolved. Elizabeth Chorney-Booth travelled as a guest of Bonjour Québec , which did not review or approve this article.
Hamilton Spectator
26-06-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Ice-age glaciers, mountain peaks, iconic wildlife: This is one of Canada's most adventurous — and undiscovered — national parks
Only in Canada is a travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for more Only in Canada stories online at . The small plane glides across the blinding expanse of ice and snow-capped alpine peaks, revealing a frozen landscape dominated by deep glacial valleys and Canada's tallest mountains. For Sian Williams, president of Icefield Discovery Tours , a 'flightseeing' tour in Kluane National Park and Reserve is like travelling back in time to experience the Earth's last ice age. 'It's a life-changing experience, seeing those huge mountains rising out of the glacier,' she says. The Yukon's short yet intense summer and early fall, when the territory's warmer weather welcomes travellers under a golden midnight sun, are the perfect time to experience Kluane's extraordinary topography. Flightseeing over the mighty Kaskawulsh Glacier. Established in 1972, Kluane National Park and Reserve is part of the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation and the White River First Nation. The landscape includes more than 2,000 glaciers, which make up the largest nonpolar ice field in the world. Kluane is also home to 17 of Canada's 20 tallest mountains, including its highest peak, Mount Logan, which touches the sky at 5,959 metres. 'These big mountains are completely hidden from the highway, so unless you do a long hiking trip, flying is the best way to see them,' notes Williams. Before the 1990s, pilots mainly carried glaciologists, scientists and mountaineers into the park. But over the past 35 years, there's been a steady rise in the popularity of flightseeing. 'It's really become a thing to do when you come to Kluane,' Williams says. P eaks of the St. Elias Mountains jut above the Kluane ice field. Travellers can climb aboard a small single-engine Helio Courier or a larger eight-passenger Pilatus Porter plane equipped with wheel-skis, taking off from a gravel landing strip and landing right on a frozen glacier. The change in topography and weather can be abrupt, but the awe-inspiring views are worth the thrill ride. Glaciers play a crucial role in our planet's climate, which is why the UN designated 2025 the 'International Year of Glaciers' Preservation' as an awareness-raising campaign. While the upper parts of Kluane's ice field are still accumulation zones, where snow builds and feeds the glaciers, they are thinning, Williams says. The Lowell Glacier no longer surges across the river to flood Haines Junction, and the retreat of the Kaskawulsh Glacier has accelerated since the 1950s. 'We are seeing climate change in action before our eyes,' says Williams. You can access Kluane's wonders even without taking to the skies. Hiking is the most popular activity in the park and reserve, which spans 22,000 square kilometres altogether. The writer looks out at Kathleen Lake from a classic Parks Canada red chair in Kluane National Park and Reserve. Backcountry hikers can trek into this wilderness from valley floors or plane drops, passing through stunning boreal forests and spectacular mountain ranges, and sharing the rugged terrain with some of Canada's most iconic wildlife. Large moose, grizzly and black bears, wolves, Dall sheep and herds of caribou roam various sections of the park. Trekkers can plan their own routes or book with experienced backcountry tour operators such as Terre Boréale , a family-owned, B Corp-certified company that has been leading small-group guided hiking and canoeing tours in the park since 2013. By flight, by foot or by watercraft, a visit to the land of Canada's tallest mountains is the height of adventure. Claudia Laroye travelled as a guest of Travel Yukon , which did not review or approve this article.
Hamilton Spectator
12-06-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Indigenous tourism is growing. Here are just three uniquely Canadian experiences to inspire you
Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. Around the world, travellers are seeking authentic, immersive cultural experiences, and here in Canada, this trend is reflected in the rise of Indigenous tourism. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of Canadian entrepreneurs and organizations in this sector grew by 70 per cent, according to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. Not only is Indigenous tourism eye-opening and educational for travellers, but it also contributes to cultural preservation and community empowerment. The range of experiences available is as vast and diverse as the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, who speak more than 70 distinct languages. Here are just three trips to inspire you. Experience Inuit culture in Quebec's far north: In northern Quebec, where the vast tundra meets the treeline, lies Kuujjuaq, the largest village in Nunavik. This harsh landscape has long been the traditional territory of the Inuit. One of the remote destination's draws is the chance to see muskoxen, the shaggy-coated ancient mammals, out in the wild — if the weather allows. Winter can bring near-whiteout conditions. But even for travellers who visit during a raging storm, as I did, there's the opportunity to deep-dive into the Indigenous culture with the help of an Inuit guide like Allen Gordon of Nunawild . In Kuujjuaq, you can speak with women crafting traditional clothing at the community sewing centre, and watch Elders teach young men how to make sleds at the carpentry centre. There are opportunities to visit the community freezer where Inuit people can get caribou meat and, if you're lucky, take in a throat singing performance. On my visit, the weather cleared, and I was able to see muskoxen in the snow and explore the tundra by dogsled, but experiencing Inuit culture was the absolute highlight of the journey. A grizzly bear with her fresh salmon catch in a river near Toba Inlet in B.C. See grizzlies on First Nation territory in B.C.: On a rainy fall day, I stood on an elevated observation platform in Homalco First Nation territory, watching a female grizzly bear slowly cross a river near Toba Inlet in B.C. In a dramatic, split-second moment, she suddenly pounced into the flowing water and pulled out a large salmon. The fish writhed in the bear's mouth as she quickly made her way to the rocky shoreline to feast on the fresh catch. The annual salmon spawn has been happening for thousands of years in the traditional territory of the Homalco First Nation near Campbell River, and when salmon numbers declined, the nation built a hatchery. Restoration of the fish population attracted more grizzly bears, and in 2009, they created safe wildlife-watching tours, led by First Nation guides. Outside of prime bear-watching season, the tours are more focused on Indigenous culture than on wildlife. But Indigenous culture is shared on every tour, regardless of when you visit. The northern lights, spotted near Whitehorse, Yukon. Learn the legends of the northern lights in the Yukon: The Yukon is a vast and wild territory that is almost as large as Spain, and the people who know it best are those who have been there the longest. It is home to Canada's tallest mountain, its second-longest river and the largest non-polar ice field in the world, and roughly one in five of the 45,000 people who live there is Indigenous. The Yukon is also a prime place to scout for the aurora borealis, which can be seen there from roughly mid-August to mid-April. On my Indigenous northern lights tour outside Whitehorse, Teena Dixon of Who What Where Tours shared stories around a campfire while we waited for nature's show. When the first wisps of the aurora spread across the inky black sky, she told us to think of someone in our lives that we had lost. 'The lights represent our ancestors,' she explained. 'They dance in the sky to let us know they are happy.' I thought of my grandparents as I watched green and red waves of light swirl through the stars. While it's possible to glimpse the aurora in other destinations, seeing it in the Yukon with an Indigenous guide is special. Hearing millennia-old legends makes the soul-stirring experience even more memorable. Debbie Olsen is a Métis writer based in Alberta. She travelled as a guest of Nunavik Tourism, Destination BC and Travel Yukon, which did not review or approve this article.
Hamilton Spectator
06-06-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
This national park in Canada is a stargazer's dream, with pristine dark skies and a chance to see northern lights
Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. The sun casts a pink glow, melting into the prairie panorama of rolling green hills and endless plains. It's quiet here — oh so quiet, except for the rustling sagebrush bending to the wind's whim, and the coyotes yipping in the distance. Soon, a few twinkling stars emerge in the darkness, then thousands of them and eventually millions. They're so bright, they illuminate the seemingly infinite night sky. Peering up in awe, you can't help but feel both trivial yet inextricably, peacefully connected to the universe. This is Grasslands National Park , in southwest Saskatchewan near the Montana border. A remote, wide-open landscape spanning 730 square kilometres, this was designated a Dark-Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2009. And it's considered 'the darkest Dark-Sky Preserve in Canada,' according to the Canadian Space Agency. There's nearly zero light pollution. In technical terms, it measures 1 (the lowest possible score) on the Bortle scale of night brightness. Visitors to Grasslands National Park may see constellations, meteor showers, the aurora borealis and more. Grasslands keeps its skies so dark by restricting light use, and ensuring any necessary lights cast reddish hues in a downward direction — all efforts to avoid disrupting the nocturnal wildlife here, including owls, bats and swift foxes. 'The feeling of vastness and connection to the sky — it's comforting, like being wrapped in a blanket of sky, with the wind at your ankles,' describes stargazing enthusiast Nicholas Ypelaar, an interpretation co-ordinator at the national park. He's a recent Ontario transplant drawn by Grasslands' night skies and birds. 'You never know what you might see, but you always see something exciting.' Within Canada, Grasslands is the largest intact swath of endangered mixed-grass ecosystem — the country's most threatened and least protected ecosystem. The park's rich biodiversity includes more than 30 at-risk species of flora and fauna, all of which depend on this rare environment. Grasslands National Park's diverse wildlife includes approximately 400 to 500 bison, a keystone species here. Bison graze the blue grama grasses. Prairie rattlesnakes and northern scorpions, greater short-horned lizards and swift foxes call this place home. More likely, though, you'll spot bounding pronghorn antelopes or scurrying badgers, or be entertained by the greater sage grouse's elaborate courting rituals. This is also the only place in Canada where black-tailed prairie dogs, that charismatic, chatty species, exist. Beyond the pristine skies and rare wildlife, history also sets this park apart: 'The darkness is important,' says Ypelaar, 'but only here do you have a full, unobstructed, 360-degree view where you can follow in the footsteps of humans who have been here for millennia, once guided by the night sky.' Grasslands has remained largely unchanged since its first inhabitants, the A'aninin, followed migrating bison to the park more than 10,000 years ago. Later, other Indigenous communities, including the Nakoda, Nehiyawak, Niisitapi, Lakota and Dakota, would follow, making this their seasonal ancestral home. The park's rich Indigenous history is still evident today, through thousands of undisturbed pre-contact sites, artifacts and over 20,000 tipi rings. By day, travellers can explore the park's dramatically different landscapes, including the prairie grasslands of the West Block, and the rugged hoodoos and badlands of the East Block. By evening, elevated areas like 70-Mile Butte or the Eastend trail offer especially beautiful views as sunset turns to nightfall. A view from the Valley of 1000 Devils Trail. Grasslands National Park is vast and varied in its landscapes. 'On a clear night, the Milky Way stretches from one horizon to the other, becoming part of the landscape,' says Ypelaar. Gaze longer and you may see constellations, meteor showers, the aurora borealis. You might even glimpse colourful airglow — static bands of streaking light — which is rare to observe with the naked eye. Spring and fall are peak times for swirling aurora at the Two Trees and Belza day use areas, with summertime ideal to spot the Milky Way's central arch. Bring binoculars or a modest telescope to look for further celestial marvels, such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, including Andromeda. What really excites amateur and professional astronomers is the chance to observe deep-sky objects listed in the Messier Catalogue, a sort of bible for stargazers. 'Stargazing is a beginner-friendly hobby. You don't have to be an astronomer to enjoy these sights,' declares Ypelaar, who suggests picking up a star map at the park's visitor centre as a starting point. 'It's an iconic experience in the province.' Jenn Smith Nelson is a Saskatchewan-based travel writer who considers Grasslands National Park her favourite place in the province.
