Herschel Island – Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park

 park, island

Herschel Island Qikiqtaruk Park protects a unique combination of natural and human heritage. Created as a direct result of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, the island became the Yukon's first territorial park in July, 1987. The Inuvialuit still come to Qikiqtaruk to hunt and fish as they have for the past thousand years, while visitors from around the world come to experience the life and culture of this fascinating arctic island.

Qikiqtaruk means "it is island" in the language of the Inuvialuit. Herschel Island lies just five kilometres off the north coast of the Yukon Territory in the Beaufort Sea. The southern shore faces the mountainous Yukon mainland, while the north shore lies only 90 kilometres south of the permanent pack ice of the Arctic Ocean. Here, where land and sea meet, is found a unique combination of arctic plants, mammals, birds and sea life.

Qikiqtaruk is an island of 116 square kilometres. About 15 kilometres by 8 kilometres between shorelines, the rolling tundra terrain ranges in height from sea level to 182 metres high. With a dry, polar climate, a surprising number of plants and animals live on and around the island. There is a small town site on the spit at Pauline Cove that features several substantial buildings from the whaling era of a century ago, as well as archaeological remains of earlier cultures.

The park was nominated in 2004 by Canada as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks/HerschelIslandQikiqtaru...