Hay River

Introducing Hay River

A hard-working, hard-bitten town, Hay River has little to offer visitors. Arriving from Enterprise, the first thing you’ll see is the 16-story high-rise looming over the flatness. Then you’ll see the sprawl – kilometers of dilapidated motels, hulking tank farms, creaking railcars and scores of boats and trucks decomposing in weed-choked lots. This is the NWT’s second-largest community (population 3648) and the North’s freight distribution center; it’s the terminus of Canada’s northernmost railroad, the depot for Arctic-bound barges and the port of the Great Slave commercial fishery.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009