Summer adventures in Canada

Hike or bike? Saddle up or paddle down? Dive deep or climb high? Or hop onto a boat or tundra buggy to take in some of Canada’s diverse flora and fauna, geological quirks and myriad cultures? Here are our top 20 outdoor summer adventures across Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories.

Canoe the Clearwater River, SK
A Canadian Heritage River that passes through several distinct geological zones. You’ll see thousands-of-years-old pictographs and tackle Class IV whitewater rapids.

Polar bear viewing in Wapusk National Park, MB
As full an immersion with polar bears as you can get (or want). Ride in specially designed tundra buggies with the only operation permitted to go into the park, which has the highest concentration of polar bear den areas in the world.

Paddle Georgian Bay, ON
A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve rich with granitic islands (approximately 30,000 of them) sprouting weathered pines. Perfect canoe territory.

Paddle Mingan Archipelago, QC
A tour through this National Park Reserve archipelago of 40 islands of mostly limestone and dolomite in the gulf of the St. Lawrence River will yield sightings of Canada’s largest collection of rock monoliths, some more than 400-million years old, plus oodles of wildlife and endangered plant species.

Kayak Haida Gwaii, BC
Also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands and sometimes called “the Galapagos of the North” due to the startling variety of flora, fauna and endemic species. One of the ancient Haida village sites in the southern islands, known as SGang Gwaay, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wapta hut-to-hut traverse, AB and BC
A ski-touring classic, this trail serves as a fine, moderate mountaineering trip during the summer. Cross the Wapta and Waputik icefields, peak-bagging at will, and stay in Alpine Club of Canada huts along the way.

Grand Manan by bike and boat, NB
Explore Atlantic coastline from land and sea from the Bay of Fundy’s largest island. Snoop in coves and inlets formed by the dramatic tidal action, and go angling in fishing villages and see historical smoke sheds.

Cycle the Cabot Trail, NS
The most famous Maritime cycle tour, the trail follows a 300-km (185-mi) circuit around northern Cape Breton Island.

Bike the Confederation Trail, PEI
A new 350-km (218-mi) decommissioned rail bed that traverses the length of the island through the land that inspired the world-renowned novel Anne of Green Gables.

Explore the Torngats, NL
View the highest peaks east of the Rockies in Labrador’s only national park reserve. Hiking and kayaking into deep fjords and close contact with Inuit culture.

Kayak among icebergs on the Great Northern Peninsula, NL
Whales, seals, seabirds and thousands-of-years-old icebergs will likely pass by experienced paddlers as you paddle toward the Viking settlement and UNESCO World Heritage Site L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site.

Climb the Lotus Flower Tower, NWT
Climb one of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America in the granite cathedral of Cirque of the Unclimbables.

Canoe the Nahanni River, NWT
In a country that’s virtually synonymous with canoeing, this paddle trip is the crown jewel. The world’s first designated UNESCO World Heritage Site with canyons over a kilometre (half-mile) deep.

Hike Ellesmere Island, Quttinirpaaq National Park, NU
Canada’s northernmost hike, about 800 km (497 mi) from the North Pole, is on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. Features include Lake Hazen, the largest freshwater lake north of the 74th parallel, rich with wildlife and vegetation, as well as glaciers, mountains and fjords on a grand scale.

Dive Vancouver Island, BC
Recognized as the finest cold-water diving in the world, with sites like the Browning Wall, vibrant with colour and the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” home to some 50 shipwrecks.

Horseback through Banff National Park, AB
Reach some of the remote backcountry mountain passes and valleys, establishing camps along the way.

Surf Tofino, BC
The water may be cold, but these breaks are stomping grounds for world-class surfers and thousands of others.

Raft the Tatshenshini, YT and BC
An 11-day, 225-km (140-mi) rafting trip from the Yukon to Alaska (USA), with British Columbia in between. The river traverses through the largest protected area in the world. Grizzlies, mountain goats, wolves and calving icebergs are all part of the landscape.

Bike the Kettle Valley Railway, BC
Cycle some easy grades on the decommissioned Kettle Valley Railway through wine country. Good food, fine wines and historic trestle bridges.

Cruise the Northwest Passage, NU
Cruise through the Northwest Passage - first navigated by explorer Roald Amundsen - with a completely Inuit-owned company employing local guides, historians and biologists.

For more information, visit Canada.travel