Located directly beneath the Auroral Oval, the town of Churchill is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. At Frontiers North Adventures we take our guests to witness this other worldly phenomenon during the months of February and March to optimize conditions. We also have developed our product to provide a comprehensive Churchill experience, sharing the natural wonders and cultural richness of Canada’s North.
Our northern lights tours take guests to unique viewing locations, as well as providing guests with daytime activities that contribute to the quintessential northern experience. Take a scroll through the photo series below to see what a typical Churchill northern lights adventure looks like with Frontiers North.
On your first day in Churchill you will start your adventure with a tour of the town and surrounding area. On this tour you will get the opportunity to take your photo with iconic Churchill landmarks, like the Polar Bear Holding Facility, aka Polar Bear Jail! As you get familiar with the surrounding area your guide will make sure to point out everything Churchill has to offer and provide interpretation of the community and its Northern culture.
Tonight is the night! Travel across the Churchill River, far from the lights of town, to an exclusive location, Thanadelthur Lounge. Here you will be greeted by the Lounge Host, a professional auroral photographer, who will provide a presentation to the group. Once the aurora come out, you can choose how you want to enjoy them. You will have the opportunity to roam the surrounding terrain to find the perfect spot to capture your first photo of the northern lights, or you can wait inside the warm lounge and relax with refreshments as you await the show. Get a different perspective, the lounge comes with access to a rooftop viewing platform.
As your second day begins, you will have the opportunity to share stories and photos with the friends you have made on the tour about the spectacle you witnessed the night before. The first activity your group has after meeting for breakfast will be across the Churchill River. To cross the frozen river our group loads into an EV Tundra Buggy® and our driver follows a mapped out path determined by the thickness of the ice. As we make our way, we will have the opportunity to stop and explore the frozen river, playing in the naturally occurring ice hummocks you will see along the way.
Once across the river, you will get fitted into a pair of snow shoes and led on a brief adventure through snow topped trees. You will walk with your snow shoes atop deep snow, a practice that has been used in Northern cultures for centuries to travel by foot. At the end of your excursion, you will be rewarded with the view of a vast frozen bay. After you are done snowshoeing you will have the opportunity hop on a fat bike and ride over groomed snow trails.
Later in the evening you will be at another exclusive Frontiers North location across the Churchill River. This time you will be going a little earlier as you will be having your dinner in this remote viewing location, Dan's Diner. Here you will participate in the Dan's Diner culinary experience, a chef-curated evening of delicious tastes, taking you an a complete food journey from start to finish. After pampering your taste buds, you will be escorted outside to cap off the evening with a private scotch tasting around a warm fire. As we enjoy this intimate experience our guide and driver are on high alert, ready to get the group when the aurora come out to dance.
The third day in Churchill will provide guests the opportunity to learn more about the community of Churchill and the surrounding region. We start with an in depth tour of the Polar Bears International House and their remote research station, Tundra Buggy One. We learn all about how the community of Churchill handles being the Polar Bear Capital of the World and the practices in place for wildlife management and safety. We also learn about polar bears and their habitat directly from an official Polar Bears International representative! After that we head over to the Itsanataq Museum to learn about Northern indigenous culture. This museum has a unique collection of art and artifacts collected across the region for hundreds of years.
Tonight, instead of crossing the frozen river, we escape the lights of town by going into the heart of the boreal forest. As we arrive at our location we are greeted by the friendly host, who is there to welcome us at their yurt, set-up in a private space surrounded by beautiful forest. This is another location that provides unique vantage points, allowing photographers to set-up multiple shots throughout the night.
We start our final full day in Churchill by going back into the boreal forest, this time to meet high performance athletes! These athletes are sled dogs, all of which are extremely excited to meet you and lead you around their track, the "Ididamile". You will glide around this mile-long track, cleverly named by owner Dave Daly, to give a nod to the famous Iditarod race. After you have gone on a ride, you will learn about the history of dog sledding, as well as the Métis nation and their culture through an interpretative presentation. From there we go to Parks Canada for another interpretative presentation. This time we learn about the history of the fur trade and the impact that the Hudson Bay Company had on the region and the national history of Canada.
For our final viewing location we return to the dog sledding yard we were at earlier in the day, this time to see the aurora borealis. Here, tucked away in the boreal forest a fire is lit in an authentic indigenous teepee, providing a beautiful subject for photos. You can choose to keep warm in the teepee as well, or if you would prefer there is a lovely spacious log-cabin as well. As this is your last night, you may feel bold enough to tempt the aurora into coming closer with some loud whistling, as you will have learned the local lore on your adventure.
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