Soper River, Baffin Island, Canada: Whitewater Rafting Adventure

The Soper River winds through the tundra-covered hills of southern Baffin Island in eastern Canada. The Soper River is designated a Canadian Heritage River, one of a select group of Canada's most outstanding rivers. The Inuit who live here call the Soper River Kuujuaq, "the Big River". Although the Soper River is navigable for only 50 kilometres by canoe, this river is a major one by Baffin Island standards.

With its richness of natural and human heritage, the Soper River valley provides exceptional opportunities for visitors to understand and appreciate these Canadian Heritage River qualities. Like earlier generations of people, travelling by land, on the water and over the snow, today's visitors find the Soper’s valley a very accessible and enjoyable area to visit.

The Soper River originates on a glacially-scoured plateau of low relief, where shallow basins, almost devoid of vegetation, drain away the summer meltwaters. Small lakes and creeks combine their flows to form the Soper’s flows. Steep valley walls loom over the gently flowing river creating a broad river valley that contrasts with the uplands above. Major landmarks near the Soper River include Mt. Joy and Mt. Moore.

The land the Soper River flows through is protected as Katannilik Territorial Park meaning "Place of Waterfalls", apropos for an area in which the water that tumbles down its steep valley walls. As the Soper’s river valley is sheltered from harsh winds it creates a microclimate that is slightly warmer than ecosystems found at similar latitudes. Consequently, the river supports a forest of willows and a lush profusion of Arctic wildflowers.

A variety and unusual concentration of wildlife are attracted to the Soper River’s valley. Among the mammals, caribou, fox, wolf, and hare frequent the area. Lemmings provide an important food source for a range of predators, especially for rough-legged hawks. Peregrine and gyrfalcons nest here along with upland species such as snowbuntings, horned larks and plovers, and seabirds such as loons, guillemots, terns and murres. Game - caribou, ptarmigan and Arctic hare, and fish - Arctic char in the river and Greenland cod in Soper Lake - are plentiful. The Inuit have used this river as a vital source of food and travel for thousands of years.

The Soper River winds its way from the highlands of the Meta Incognita Peninsula in Nunavut to Soper Lake and the salt waters of Pleasant Inlet along the south coast of Baffin Island. Soper Falls, near its mouth, displays a special hydrographic feature in the phenomenon of a reversing current caused by the high tides of Hudson Strait. Meta Incognita - The Unknown Place - was the forbidding name given to this land by Queen Elizabeth I in 1576, after explorer Martin Frobisher described it to her. By 1931, when Canadian biologist and Arctic explorer, J. Dewey Soper, travelled up the river, it was still largely unknown to the outside world.

Bordering the area's southern boundary is the Inuit community of Kimmirut (Lake Harbour) on adjacent Glasgow Inlet. Kimmirut is the closest community to Iqaluit - the capital of the Territory. Iqaluit itself, is closely linked by daily air service to the major centres of Ottawa and Montreal.

The Kimmirut region contains many sites of early habitation from as early as Pre-Dorset times, 4,000 years ago. Caribou hunting and other subsistence activities were important to these cultures and the Soper’s valley served as a major inland travel corridor to a rendezvous point at Amadjuaq Lake and other parts of central Baffin Island. These same patterns of activity are common today among the Inuit people. Hunting caribou, ptarmigan, fox and hare, collecting berries and travelling back and forth to Iqaluit, all depend on the Soper River valley.

Nahanni River Adventures, Nahanni offers exceptional expeditions by raft and canoe on the great rivers from Alaska to Nunavut including: South Nahanni River, Tatshenshini River, Alsek River, Firth River, Snake River, Wind River, Stikine River, Burnside River, Coppermine River, Horton River, Mountain River, Yukon River, Taku River, Gataga River and Sea Kayaking and whale watching at Point Adolphus, Alaska, over-looking Glacier Bay National Park.

Our expeditions encompass Nahanni National Park (South Nahanni River), Kluane National Park (Alsek River), Ivvavik National Park (Firth River), Glacier Bay National Park (Alsek River), Herschel Island Territorial Park (Firth River).

Nahanni River Adventures operates in Alaska (United States of America), Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and British Columbia (Canada).

Nahanni.com is the online presence of the company, Nahanni River Adventures Ltd.

Nahanni River Adventures works with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to ensure the environmental integrity of our wild places.

Neil Hartling, founder of Nahanni River Adventures, is also the author of: Nahanni, River of Gold...River of Dreams. Alaska to Nunavut - The Great Rivers. Nahanni River Guide. These books may all be purchased through Nahanni.com.

Common misspellings of the name are Nahani, Nahannie, Nahanie, Nahoni, Nahonni.
Nahanni River Adventures.