Day 1

Yellowknife, the tour bus will pick you up at the hotel between 11 & 12pm, you will then be given a city tour. After the tour you will travel approximately 320 km through buffalo country to the small village of Fort Providence where you will board the ship. It is one of several former fur trading posts and missions strung along the river that are now quiet native communities.  There will be time to tour the community and have the opportunity to purchase authentic native art, before we set sail. 

Day 2

Today, we will arrive at the oldest settlement still occupied along the river, Fort Simpson, named after the HBC governor Sir George Simpson.  Once the hub for the trading activities, the original fort was established in the early 1800’s by the Northwest Co.  For about 60 years prior to 1888 when progress brought steam, Fort Simpson was the wintering base for the captains of the York Boats that were used to transport freight and passengers on the river.  We can visit the Papal Grounds where Pope John Paul visited in 1987.

Day 3

Today begins at Camsell Bend, this is where the great adventurer Alexander Mackenzie, in 1789, discovered that the river makes an abrupt turn to the north, leading to the Arctic Ocean, not the Pacific Ocean as he had thought.  Here you will have a very commanding view of the Mackenzie Mountains, North Nahannie Range and Camsell Range.  The area is named after Julian Camsell, a chief factor for the Hudson bay Co. between 1859 and 1900 and a man who holds the worlds record for the longest snowshoe tramp – 2,200 Km between Fort Liard, NWT and Minnesota, USA.  Your hosts, the Whitlock”s, are direct descendents of this famous northern pioneer adding a unique dimension to your Arctic Adventure Cruise.  Late in the day we will pass by the native community of Wrigley, the scenic surroundings of the community are considerably enhanced by the rock formation called “Roche Qui Trempé A L’Eau” (Mountain with its feet in the water).  An impressive steep rounded rock that rises sheer from the water’s edge to 1200 feet.  Look for falcons nesting on the ledges and the cliff homes of the swallows that are their prey.

Day 4

Continuing down river, we will pass the Smoking Hills, coal scams along the river’s bank, that occasionally catch fire.  This was noted by Alexander Mackenzie in the diary that he kept for his famed voyage, he reports. “the whole bank was on fire for a considerable distance.  It proved to be a coal mine.  The beach was covered in coal, the mineral which the native render their quills black”.  Locally, the natives call it “The Smoke” or “The Burn”.  Further down the river is Fort Norman.  This native settlement is set dramatically against the striking backdrop of “Bear Rock”, a tower of limestone which rears 1550 feet above the confluence of the Mackenzie and its tributary, the Great Bear River. 

Day 5

Today we will arrive in the modern community of Norman Wells, the oil capital of the Northwest Territories.  Whereas other settlements on the river originated as fur trading posts, Norman Wells is the first to owe its existence to the direct development of  mineral resources, a refinery has been producing oil here commercially since 1921.  It is also a popular jumping off point for adventurers seeking to challenge the famous and grueling 600 mile Canol Trail over the Mackenzie Mountains to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  We will visit the community museum and visitor center, which has a well stocked bookstore and local crafts..

Day 6

This morning, we will pass through the “Upper Ramparts”, a seven-mile section where the river banks are perpendicular cliffs that rise 200 feet from the river.  At this point, the river provides scenery that never fails to impress.  Located at the end, high on the east bank of the Mackenzie as we come out of the Ramparts, soars the giant white cross of the church of Fort Good Hope.  The community was first established in 1804 as a Roman Catholic Mission, it is also the oldest of the lower Mackenzie fur trading posts.  You will be able to visit the recently renovated “Church of Our Lady of Good Hope”, a national historic site famous for its interior that has brightly painted frescoes and ornate sculptures.  In the evening on departing Fort Good Hope, a short way down river, we will cross the “Arctic Circle” and will celebrate with a small ceremony.  Once departing, we will travel through the evening and will pass the area called the “Grand View of the Mackenzie”, the river here is two miles wide, flowing northward between low lying banks, wooded in willow and spruce and clumped with purple fireweed and wild roses.

Day 7

In the evening, we will stop in the native settlement of Tsiigehtchic, a community that stands almost at the gates of the Mackenzie Delta.  This is where the Dempster Highway crosses the Mackenzie with the end of the highway in Inuvik.  Here at the confluence of the Arctic Red River with the Mackenzie, there had been a native fish camp for centuries and today fur trapping is still the main economic pursuit in the community.  The highway was named after RCMP Corporal Dempster who traveled the route n 1911 by dog team along the trail used by local natives.   We spend our last day on the river threading through the vast maze of the Mackenzie Delta. The delta expands to 85 miles in width and stretches 150 miles by the time it enters the Arctic Ocean.  Three main channels and endless lesser snake through vast areas of low-lying islands, ponds, little lakes and peat bogs.

Day 8

We will arrive early morning in the community of ‘Inuvik’ (Inuvialuktun for “Place of man”) This is the end of the Mackenzie River journey. This morning (if you have included this in you trip) you will be flown to the arctic coast community of Tuktoyaktuk ( Eskimo for “It looks like caribou”) to spend the day with an Inuit family and dip your toes in the Arctic Ocean, on your return you will be taken to a hotel of your choice.  Guest not taking the Tuktoyaktuk trip will be free to spend the morning visiting the shops in Inuvik, then taken to the airport for your flight home.