Glacier Bay National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Glacier Bay National Park

Weather: Rain, 56/67F.

Route: Google maps couldn't find the way, but according the the NPS website there is a regular ferry between Juneau and Gustavus.  So, from Kluane National Park it is 415 km SSE on Haines Highway, ferry from Haines to Juneau, then ferry from Juneau to Gustavus. It appears as though most people who visit the park do so from the deck of a cruise ship.

Significance: It is the marine part of the same UNESCO World Heritage Site as Kluane.  Although it does contain 3.3 million acres of mountains and forests along with the coastline.  The largest animals in the park are of course the humpback whales that come here every summer to feed on the abundant fish. The melting glaciers are nutrient rich, which helps to feed the food chain all the way to the top. There are also killer whales, harbor seals, and 280 kinds of birds.  There are also many of the land mammals that we've seen in Kluane and Denali, including bears, mountain goats etc.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, National Park Service.

Images:

The mammoth glaciers are what draw most people to the park (from nps.gov)

The marine wildlife is the other main reason people visit (from visittheusa.com)

Kluane National Park, Alaska - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Kluane National Park

Weather: Mainly sunny, 46/74F

Route: From Anchorage 609 miles east on AK-1 N, AK-2 S, Yukon 1 E.

Significance: It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes Wrangell-St. Elias, Glacier Bay, and Tashenshini-Alsek National Parks, some of which are in Canada and some in Alaska.  Kluane is in the Yukon Territory - it contains Canada's highest peak. You can watch glaciers calve into the Alsek River.  It also contains a very large population of Grizzly bears and many of the same mammals that one would see in Denali.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parks Canada.

Images:

Glaciers meeting at the base of the mountain range (from viator.com)

Kathleen Lake (from travelyukon.com)

Anchorage, Alaska

Place: Anchorage, Alaska

Weather: Mainly sunny, 56/76F.

Route: From Denali 239 miles south on AK-3 S.

Population: 288,000 (2019)

Nickname: The City of Lights and Flowers.

Places to visit: Alaska Railroad, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Images: 

Downtown Anchorage (from govtech.com)

A local resident (from adfg.alaska.gov)

Denali National Park, Alaska

Place: Denali National Park, Alaska

Weather: Mainly cloudy, 48/66F

Route: From Juneau 855 miles NW on ferry to Haines, Yukon 1 W, AK-2 N.

Significance: I could just say, it has the highest point in North America at 20,310 feet and end at that.  But as the NPS website says, "it's more than a mountain."  Inside it's 6 million acres of wild land are many animals you would expect in Alaska, like bears, wolves, caribou, moose, squirrels, eagles etc.  The park was actually created in 1917 to protect the Dall sheep, which are pure white bighorn sheep.  There are actually many lower elevation areas in the park as well.

Websites: National Park Service

Images:

Mt. Denali from Reflection Pond (from nps.gov)

Dall sheep (from nps.gov)

Juneau, Alaska

Place: Juneau, Alaska

Weather: Rain, 49/58F

Route: From Nahanni National Park 974 km SW on YT-10 S, YT-4 E, Ferry from Skagway to Haines, Ferry from Haines to Juneau.

Population: 31,974 (2019)

Interesting fact: Juneau is the only state capital in the United States other than Honolulu, Hawaii that one cannot drive to from another state capital. The only way to get to Juneau is by plane or ferry due to the surrounding terrain of the city.  

Places to visit: Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska State Museum, St. Nicholas, Juneau-Douglas City Museum, Last Chance Mining Museum, Jensen-Olson Arboretum.

Images:

Downtown Juneau (from thealaskalife.com)

Jensen-Olson Arboretum (from beta.juneau.org)

Nahanni National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Nahanni National Park

Weather: Intervals of clouds and sunshine, 55/78F.

Route: From Yellowknife 699 km west on Frontier Trail, Mackenzie highway, Yellowknife highway, NT-3 S.

Significance: I have to admit that I didn't have any idea that this kind of natural landscape existed in this part of Canada. The main axis of the park is the South Nahanni River, "one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America" as UNESCO says.  There are few roads in the park - so most people travel by air to different areas of the park.  There are a diverse number of animal species, including the expected caribou and bear.  Granite peaks rise dramatically from the meadows. Virginia Falls, one of the largest falls in the Americas is also within the park.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parks Canada.

Images:

Virginia Falls, twice the size of Niagara (from spectacularnwt.com)

South Nahanni River (from spectacularnwt.com)

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Place: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Weather: Partly to mostly cloudy, 52/69F. Sunrise 4:42 am, Sunset 10:43 pm.

Route: From Wood Buffalo National Park 830 km North on Fort Smith Highway, NT-5 S, MacKenzie Highway, Yellowknife Highway, NT-3 N.

Population: 19,569 (2016)

Nickname: Diamond Capital of North America

Places to Visit: Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Bush Pilot's Monument, Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.

Images:

Downtown (from spectacularnwt.com)

Aurora Borealis over downtown Yellowknife (from spectacularnwt.com)

Wood Buffalo National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Wood Buffalo National Park

Weather: Mostly cloudy with shower developing, 52/64F

Route: From Edmonton 1,139 km North on AB-44 N, Bicentennial Highway/AB-88 N, AB-35 N, NT-5 N.

Significance: The name of the park comes from the fact that it has the world's largest herd of Wood Bison, which most people wouldn't be able to tell apart from the American Bison that you see in Yellowstone. The landscape has the "largest undisturbed grass and meadows left in the Americas" according to UNESCO. It is also the only breeding habitat for the endangered Whooping Crane. It is the largest national park in Canada - it would be the 42nd largest U.S. state at 17,300 square miles.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parks Canada.

Images:

Inland delta (from whc.unesco.org)

The namesake of the park (from insightguides.com)

Edmonton, Alberta

Place: Edmonton, Alberta

Weather: Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms, 55/75F

Route: From Calgary 299 km north on AB-2 N.

Population: 932,546 (2016)

Nicknames: Canada's Festival City, City of Champions, The Oil Capital of Canada.

Places to Visit: Fort Edmonton Park, TELUS World of Science, Muttart Conservatory, Royal Alberta Museum, Art Gallery of Alberta.

Images:

Skyline (from walkingontravels.com)

Art Gallery of Alberta (from cbc.ca)

Calgary, Alberta

Place: Calgary, Alberta

Weather: Partly cloudy skies, 56/77F.

Route: From Waterton Lakes National Park 261 km north on AB-6 N, AB-3 E, AB-2 N.

Population: 1,239,220 (2016)

Nicknames: Cowtown, Stampede City.

Places to Visit: Heritage Park Historical Village, Glenbow Museum, Calgary Tower, Fort Calgary.

Images:

Downtown Calgary (from travelalberta.com)

Peace Bridge (from atlasobscura.com)

Waterton Glacier International Peace Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

Weather: Generally sunny, 57/82F.

Route: From Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump 90 km on AB-785 W and AB-6 S.

Significance: The Canadian part of this (first ever) International Peace Park is called Waterton Lakes National Park. Like its neighbor Glacier National Park to the south, it features incredibly dramatic landscapes and diverse amount of plants and animals including top carnivores like grizzly bear, cougar, grey wolf, and wolverine.  The landscape is so dramatic due in part to millions of years of glacial activity.  There are over 600 glacial lakes over the two parks.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parks Canada.

Video:

Images:

Waterton Lake (from experiencemountainparks.com)

A local enjoys the waters of Waterton Lake (from thecanadianencylopedia.ca)

Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Place: Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump

Weather: Sunny along with a few clouds, 55/78F

Route: From Regina 694 km west on Trans-Canada Highway and AB-3 W.

Significance: Although Bison were important to all Native Americans (called Aboriginal people in Canada) on the plains, nowhere is that relationship more dramatic than at this site.  For 5,500 years indigenous people used a 10 meter cliff to kill Bison.  During most of this time they didn't have horses - so they would run the bison down "drive lanes" to the highest point of the cliff. They would then finish off the Bison at the bottom of the cliff and prepare them for many uses (food, clothing, shelter etc).

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Canada Parks.

Images:

The Cliff (from pg.gc.ca)

Alfred Jacob Miller's "Buffalo Jump" painted in 1859-60 (from smithsonianmag.com)

Regina, Saskatchewan

Place: Regina, Saskatchewan

Weather: Sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon, 51/70F.

Route: From Winnipeg 573 km West on Trans-Canada Highway.

Population: 215,206 (2016)

Nickname: The Queen City

Places to Visit: Stone Hall Castle, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre, Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Saskatchewan Science Centre, Government House, Regina Floral Conservatory.

Images:

Saskatchewan Legislative Building and downtown Regina (from canadianimmigrant.ca)

Business District (from careers.workopolis.com)

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Place: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then partly cloudy late, 62/84F.

Route: From Thunder Bay 702 km WNW on Trans Canada highway and ON-17 W.

Population: 705,244 (2016)

Nicknames: Winterpeg

Places to Visit: Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Assiniboine Park Zoo, Manitoba Museum, Royal Canadian Mint, Fort Whyte Alive, The Forks National Historic Site.

Images:

Downtown Winnepeg (from macleans.ca)

Esplanade Riel Bridge over the Red River (from immigratemanitoba.com)

Thunder Bay, ON

Place: Thunder Bay, ON

Weather: Mainly sunny, 61/83F

Route: From Sault Ste. Marie 705 km NW on Trans-Canada highway and ON-17 N.

Population: 107,909 (2016)

Nicknames: Canada's Gateway to the West, The Lakehead.

Places to Visit: Fort William Historical Park, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, The Blue Point Amethyst Mine, Centennial Botanical Conservatory, Thunder Bay Museum.

Images:

Waterfront with "Sleeping Giant" in the background (from visitthunderbay.com)

Marina and downtown (from gotothunderbay.ca)

Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Place: Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Weather: Cloudy in morning, mainly sunny skies in the afternoon, 62/82F.

Route: From Algonquin National Park 578 km west on Trans Canada Highway, Highway 17.

 Population: 73,368 (2016)

The two "Soo's": The cities on both sides of the U.S./Canada border are called Sault Ste. Marie.  That's because prior to the War of 1812 they were the same city - until the border was moved here.  The Canadian side has the larger population, but the U.S. owns the "Soo locks" - one of the busiest locks in the world by tonnage. The locks make it possible for ships to traverse the rapids of the St. Mary River and get from Lake Huron to Lake Superior.

Places to Visit: Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site, Sault Ste. Marie Museum, Soo Locks.

Images:

Downtown and waterfront (from algomacountry.com)

Soo Locks (from michiganradio.com)

Algonquin Provincial Park

Place: Algonquin Provincial Park

Weather: More clouds than sun, 61/81F.

Route: From Ottawa 247km west on Trans Canada Highway, ON-417 W, ON-60 W.

Significance: Algonquin was founded in 1893, making it the oldest provincial park in Canada.  It is almost 3,000 square miles and is on the border of deciduous and coniferous forest, making for a diverse number of plants and animals. There are over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 km of streams and rivers.  There are bear, moose, deer, wolf, 272 species of birds etc. 

Websites: Ontario Parks, Friends of Algonquin Park

Images:

Much of the interior has no roads - so canoes are the preferred method of transportation (from discovermuskoka.com)

Autumn in the park (from algonquinbound.com)