Ukkusiksalik National Park

Ukkusiksalik surrounds Wager Bay, a saltwater inlet about a hundred kilometres long off Hudson Bay, and its name refers to the soapstone found here and used for carving. At the mouth, a narrow constriction produces a reversing falls that runs one way on the flood tide and the other on the ebb. The park holds one of the highest concentrations of polar bears in the region, which is the reason travel here is almost always with an outfitter and an armed guide. Around five hundred archaeological sites record Inuit and earlier occupation over thousands of years, from the Dorset and Thule cultures onward, including tent rings, food caches and fox traps.

History

Tent rings, inuksuit, caches and shelters show that the coast of Wager Bay has been lived on for thousands of years, with about 500 archaeological sites from the Dorset and Thule cultures and the last two centuries. In 1742 Christopher Middleton in the Furnace became the first European to enter the bay, naming it after Sir Charles Wager of the Admiralty while ice held him there for weeks, the American whaler George G. Cleveland ran a whaling station near its entrance from 1900 for four years, and in 1910 the Royal North-West Mounted Police set up a post on the coast near the Savage Islands (Wikipedia, Ukkusiksalik National Park).

Highlights

• The reversing falls - a tidal constriction that runs both directions daily.
• The polar bears - one of the densest concentrations in the region.
• The archaeological sites - about five hundred, including tent rings and caches.
• The soapstone - the carving material the park is named for.

When to go

July to September, when the ice clears enough for boat travel; access is by charter and weather cancels flights routinely. Bears are present throughout the season.

Good to know

Polar bear density makes independent travel genuinely dangerous and outfitters with armed guides are effectively mandatory. There are no facilities. Costs are very high.

Nearby

Naujaat lies north; Rankin Inlet is south on Hudson Bay.

Key facts