Mount Edziza

Mount Edziza is a shield volcano rising to about two thousand seven hundred and eighty metres on a plateau scattered with more than thirty cinder cones, some of them brilliantly coloured in red and orange, and lava flows of several ages. Obsidian from Edziza was traded across a large part of northwestern North America for thousands of years, and pieces from here turn up in archaeological sites far away, which makes the mountain economically as well as geologically significant to the Tahltan. There is no road: access is a float plane onto Mowdade or Buckley Lake, or a walk of several days. There are no facilities, trails or bridges.

What's there

• The cinder cones - more than thirty vents, some coloured red and orange.
• The obsidian flows - volcanic glass traded across the northwest for millennia.
• The shield volcano - a broad ice-capped summit above the plateau.
• The empty country - a park with no roads, trails or facilities at all.

When to go

July to September; snow covers the plateau otherwise and float planes need open water. Weather can pin parties down for days at any time in summer.

Practical notes

This is a genuine wilderness expedition with no trails, no bridges over creeks and no rescue nearby. Obsidian is sharp enough to cut boots and gear. Flights are expensive and weather-dependent.

Nearby

The Stikine canyon lies east; Dease Lake is the staging point.

Key facts