Gwaii Haanas

Gwaii Haanas covers the southern third of Haida Gwaii and is unusual in being protected continuously from the sea floor to the mountain tops, and in being co-managed as equals by the Haida Nation and the government of Canada after the Haida stood in the road to stop logging in 1985. There are no roads, no lodges and no services: visitors arrive by chartered boat or float plane and travel by kayak or sailboat between old village sites, hot springs and inlets. Watchmen from Haida communities live at five of those sites through the summer. The forest is thick with Sitka spruce and cedar, black bears here are the largest of their subspecies, and the waters hold humpbacks and orcas.

What you actually see

• Hotspring Island - natural pools above the shore, restored after an earthquake.
• Watchmen sites - Haida guardians at five old village locations.
• Sea kayaking - the classic way to travel between inlets and islands.
• The Legacy Pole - raised in 2013, the first in the park in over a century.

When to go

June to September is the season, when Watchmen are in place and charters run; July and August have the most settled weather. Every visitor must complete an orientation before entering. Independent trips need experience, a permit and reservations that open months ahead.

Honest expectations

This is expensive and logistically demanding: flights to Haida Gwaii, then a charter, with costs that put a week here well beyond a normal park trip. Weather cancels crossings and float plane pickups routinely, so build in spare days. Independent kayaking is for experienced expedition paddlers only. Numbers at each site are capped.

Nearby

Skidegate and the Haida Heritage Centre are the staging point; SGang Gwaay is within the reserve.