Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve

Akami-Uapishku-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains was established in 2015 and covers around ten thousand seven hundred square kilometres, making it one of the largest protected areas in eastern North America; the name combines Innu and Inuit words for the white mountain and the mountains. It protects boreal forest, subarctic barrens, the Mealy Mountains themselves and a caribou herd. There is no road access, no trail network, no campgrounds and no visitor infrastructure of any kind; Parks Canada describes it as a place for self-sufficient wilderness travel. Innu and Inuit continue traditional harvesting throughout it under the establishment agreements.

What you actually see

• The undeveloped scale - over ten thousand square kilometres with no infrastructure.
• The Mealy Mountains - subarctic barrens rising above boreal forest.
• The caribou - a herd within the reserve's boundaries.
• The continuing harvest - Innu and Inuit land use under the park agreements.

When to go

July to September for any realistic travel; the season is short and weather turns fast. Access requires chartering a float plane or boat from Goose Bay.

Honest expectations

There is genuinely nothing here: no trails, no bridges, no campsites, no signage and no rescue nearby. Charter costs are high and weather-dependent. This is for experienced expedition travellers only.

Nearby

Happy Valley-Goose Bay is the staging point; Labrador's coast lies east.