The area surrounding the Firth is a land of contrasts–forest and tundra, craggy peaks and alpine meadows, wild coastline and ice-filled seas. Wildlife roams unimpeded here with a diversity unrivalled elsewhere in Canada. Barren-ground caribou, mountain sheep, moose, muskoxen, grizzly bears, wolves and wolverines, and a wide variety of bird species all make their home in this arctic habitat. In the long sun soaked days of our northern summer, travel and explore by raft. Our knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides will help you better understand the geology and wildlife, adding to a fascinating journey through the wild and remote landscape.

You can traverse this exceptional area by rafting the Firth River from the British Mountains to the Beaufort Sea, following the Arctic coast to historic Herschel Island. This section of the Yukon has been recognized by Parks Canada as “an area of spectacular scenery and exceptional ecological significance,” in large part due to the famed Porcupine Caribou herd. Close to 20,000 animals migrate through this region to and from their calving grounds on the coastal plain of Alaska and the Yukon. After calving in June, they start to congregate in huge herds and migrate westward, crossing the Firth River. At this time, the migration provides a spectacle that is unsurpassed in North America. Occasionally passage down the river coincides with this migration. At this time of year much of the vegetation is in bloom and wild flowers carpet the tundra and hillsides. Different types of vegetation give the landscape a unique patchwork quality.

River History

The region surrounding the Firth River on the Arctic slope was designated Ivvavik National Park in 1984. This designation was timely, as there had been several major industrial development proposals for the area. The last proposal–the Arctic Gas Pipeline–was rejected by the Government of Canada after the Berger Inquiry of 1977.

Justice Thomas Berger eloquently wrote:

 ”The Northern Yukon is an arctic and sub arctic wilderness of incredible beauty, a rich and varied ecosystem: nine million acres of land and animals . . . a place of contrasts, of an explosively productive but brief summer and of a long hard winter, of rugged mountains and stark plains. Its teeming marshes and shore lands give it a beauty equalled by few other places on Earth.”