Nahanni National Park Reserve

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Nahanni National Park encompasses 300 square kilometres of the South Mountains in the south-western corner of the Northwest Territories. The Nahanni River, named for the Naha, a tribe of fierce warriors who vanished from the valley, is a dangerous river notorious for other mysteries as well, like the story of the headless men found in Deadmen Valley.

It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, the first natural region in the world to be so designated.

Geological History

Millions of years ago, the South Nahanni meandered its way along a flat sedimentary plain. When forces deep within the earth forced molten rock to the surface to form the Ragged Range, everything before it rippled, creating the Mackenzie Mountains, but the river held its course. So the river behaves like a mature meandering river, which has gradually worn its way through the rock while the mountains rose around it. For 80 kilometres, the South Nahanni travels through the largest canyon system in Canada, actually the largest in the world north of 60 degrees latitude.

The river began carving these canyons about 1.4 million years ago. Their existence today is an anomaly here. Glaciers covered so much of the North that most landforms tend to have been altered significantly as recently as the last glaciation 10,000 years ago. But this area escaped glaciation because the mountains to the west intercept most of the precipitation and there simply wasn't enough snow to build up a glacier. Hence the mountains and river canyons have not been widened or rounded by the crush of ice.

The South Nahanni River

This section of the South Nahanni River really begins at the Sluice Box Rapids. Fractures in the limestone riverbed cause the water to roil and crash over rocks as it begins to descend. The only way to see these rapids is by air, for in the next moment the river plunges 90 metres over Virginia Falls, the only mandatory portage on the South Nahanni River, and into the canyon lands The canyons are numbered from east to west, so one encounters Fourth canyon first, at the base of Virginia Falls. This canyon was formed by the recession of the falls, as the force of water erodes the rock at a rate of about half a centimetre per year. The river moves more swiftly as it proceeds down river, squeezed between the steep canyon walls and increasing in volume with each tributary. Below the confluence of the Flat River, it enters 19 kilometre long Third Canyon, with walls over 900 metres high. After negotiating a 90 degree turn at The Gate, it proceeds through Second Canyon, flanked by the Headless Range, and enters Deadmen Valley. The Park cabin here is a ritual check-in point for paddlers on the river, each leaving a carved memento of their journey and a record of their experiences in the log book. Below the valley, the cliffs of First Canyon rise almost 1200 metres above the river and are pock marked with openings of karst caves.

The South Nahanni River is one of the premiere canoeing destinations in the world, although fewer than 800 paddlers a year visit. For many, the journey begins outside the National Park at the Moose Ponds, headwaters of the South Nahanni. The river here is barely more than a trickle, but it quickly widens and increases in volume. By the end of the first day of paddling, you are in the Rock Garden, a stretch of continuous white water punctuated with Class II and III rapids. It is described as a ‘cauldron of racing current and swirling boils’, with curling waves and souse holes to challenge the most experienced canoeist. The river drops 5.5 m/km before the river settles into its new environment in a broad glacial plain.

The river enters the National Park at Rabbitkettle Lake, and paddlers must register here with the Park Warden. This enables the park to keep track of people on the river, and facilitates rescue should someone not sign out at the expected time. It is also a good opportunity to view the Tufa Mounds, one of the park's unique features.

From here, the river meanders in broad arcs across the valley as the Sunblood Range comes into view. The mountains are tinted pink and red by the iron content in the rock, especially visible in the magic hours of early morning and late afternoon. At Sunblood Mountain, all river travellers must pull out at the 1.2-km mandatory portage on the river's south shore, around Virginia Falls to a put-in downstream. The Falls, twice the height of Niagara Falls, are best appreciated from a vantagepoint below.

The Canyons

The Four Canyons of the Nahanni introduce more whitewater to the river. Sheer volume of water confined by the steep walls of the canyon results in large standing waves, best approached head on. Twists and turns through the canyon produce whirlpools, eddies and boils at Figure 8 Rapids or ‘Hell’s Gate’, Georges Riffle and Lafferty's Riffle, until the river deposits you at Kraus Hotsprings. This is another mandatory stop, not for your safety, but for the pure enjoyment of soaking in the warming natural sulphur springs that bubble to the surface here.

As you leave the park, the river enters a floodplain and becomes braided into a maze of shallow channels called The Splits. Successful navigation of the river here will reward you with an easy paddle to Nahanni Bute and the confluence of the Nahanni and Liard.

Nahanni Fauna

Animals along the lower section of the river are a rare sight and generally, paddlers are moving too quickly to really get a good look at anything that happens to be nibbling at a salt lick or bush at rivers edge. Outside the park boundary, the South Nahanni begins at The Moose Ponds, an excellent habitat for moose and beaver. Much of the river between Rabbitkettle Lake and Virginia Falls and many of the small lakes located in the mountain passes is also suitable wildlife habitat. If you climb into the sub-alpine, you will find caribou, mule deer and whitetail deer. The alpine meadows and steep cliffs are the domain of mountain goats and Dall sheep. Tlogotsho Plateau is a sheep lambing ground just south of Deadmen Valley.

While grizzly bears are not common, black bears are often observed, an important fact to remember when camping along the river or in the backcountry.