Sights in Northwest Territories
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Hay River Heritage Centre
reviewed
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Jàk Park
Jàk Park, 6km south of town, has a good lookout tower for viewing the subarctic terrain.
reviewed
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Norman Wells Historical Centre
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Northern Life Museum
The Northern Life Museum is the North's best small-town museum, with intriguing displays on local history and culture, plus the corpse of Canus, a whooping crane sire whose sexual efforts helped save his species from extinction.
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Ragged Ass Rd
Named by gold-rush-era prospectors who had gone stony broke (ragged ass), this road was immortalized in a song and album by Canadian rock musician Tom Cochrane (himself the son of a bush pilot) in 1995. The street sign subsequently went missing so many times that the city authorities starting selling copies as souvenirs. Mansions now outnumber the sagging gold-rush-era cabins on the street.
reviewed
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The Wild Cat Café
An original town structure dating from 1937, this tiny log cabin has been preserved and turned into one of the city's most well-known restaurants, the Wild Cat. Debate raged recently when the new French-Canadian vendor tried to change its name to Le Wild Cat. The moral: don't mess with tradition.
reviewed
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Bush Pilot's Monument
Perched atop 'The Rock,' a large outcrop right before the bridge to Latham Island, this simple needle pays homage to the gutsy bush pilots who opened up the NWT. Climb the stairs to the viewpoint where you can watch modern floatplane traffic and envy the people on polychromatic houseboats in the bay. Summer sunsets – if you can stay up that late – are stunning.
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Dänojà Zho Centre
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Dempster Highway
After checking out the above sights, the best thing you can do in Inuvik is get out of town. The easiest way is to drive the Dempster Hwy, a ribbon of gravel that reaches westward into some of the most stunning alpine scenery available. You can rent a 4X4 Jeep Cherokee Dempster-ready pickup from Arctic Chalet for $95 per day plus 100 free kilometers. It also rents kayaks and canoes for $100 and $200 per week respectively.
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Fort Smith Mission Historic Park
Weedy Fort Smith Mission Historic Park commemorates the days when this was Roman Catholicism's beachhead into the North. Self-guided tour maps are available from the visitors center; at the museum, you can arrange for a guided tour.
reviewed
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Parks Canada
This office has info on Tuktut Nogait, Ivvavik and Aulavik National Parks, as well as the Pingo Canadian Landmark. Park visitors must register and de-register here.
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Our Lady of Victory Church
The town landmark is Our Lady of Victory Church, also called the Igloo Church, with a resplendent white dome and a lovely interior (though the place is often locked).
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Northern Images
Northern Images, in an octagonal log-cabin, is the gallery in town. There are scads of Northern art and crafts here, including $170 beaver-skin caps and $3600 Inuit carvings.
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Legislative Assembly
In 1993 the NWT government coughed up $25 million to build the impressive, igloo-shaped Legislative Assembly, which is also off 48th St and near Frame Lake. You can learn about the territory's aboriginal-style government by joining a free hour-long tour. There's also excellent Northern art throughout.
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Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
Acting as a historical and cultural archive for the whole NWT, the well laid-out and exhaustive Northern Heritage Centre, opened by the Prince of Wales in 1979, is pleasantly situated overlooking Frame Lake. Here, expertly assembled displays address natural history, European exploration, Northern aviation and, especially, Dene and Inuit ways. And, unusually for super-expensive Yellowknife, it's free.
reviewed