This wild, high Arctic national park is located in a very remote corner of the world, yet it is quite accessible from the community of Resolute, Nunavut. Local Inuit can provide guiding and outfitting services for the adventurous explorer, arranging access by chartered aircraft, boat, snowmobile or dog-team.
Qausuittuq National Park (pronounced Kow-soo-ee-took) is located on Bathurst Island, a sparsely vegetated polar desert in a sea of ice. While Bathurst Island was inhabited from time to time over the past millennia, the area of the park was the least inhabited part of the island. To visit Canada’s newest national park is to escape from the ordinary, from the human dominated world, to experience an unworldly land and a powerful sense of timeless isolation. In winter the sun doesn’t rise, while in spring and summer it never sets, so each visitor moves to his or her own rhythm.
Spring and summer are the two seasons during which visitors will be particularly attracted to Qausuittuq National Park. Visitors will have a variety of opportunities to experience the park, including camping and travelling the traditional Inuit way, supported by Inuit guides. In spring, snow and sea ice allow for access by snowmobile or dog-team from Resolute. In summer, a short flight from Resolute will bring visitors to the park where they can hike across the tundra and camp under the midnight sun. Cruise ship passengers will also be welcome to visit the park.
To come to Qausuittuq National Park will be to experience the life in the high Arctic, to see what permafrost is, to feel the breeze coming from the frozen ocean and perhaps to witness the sea ice during break up. Visitors will observe Arctic wildlife, including muskoxen, Peary caribou and Arctic wolves that survive here year-round and migratory birds that raise their young during the short summers. Marine mammals, including seals, beluga whales and narwhals, make their way into the bays during the short open water season.
A visitor reception centre will be established in Resolute, Nunavut, to provide information for potential park visitors and to those unable to go to the park itself.
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