Wood Buffalo National Park

As part of Canada's system of national parks and national historic sites, Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada is our country's largest national park and one of the largest in the world. It was established in 1922 to protect the last remaining herds of bison in northern Canada. Today, it protects an outstanding and representative example of Canada's Northern Boreal Plains. Wood Buffalo is Canada’s largest national park. Covering more territory than Switzerland, it sprawls across northeastern Alberta and juts into the southern part of the Northwest Territories. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is home to one of the last remaining free-roaming wood bison herds in the world, the nesting habitat for endangered whooping cranes, and the world’s largest beaver dam. The southern portion of the park features the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the largest inland freshwater deltas in the world. All four North American flyways converge over the delta each spring and fall. The last remaining flock of migratory whooping cranes nests in a remote corner of the boreal forest every summer. n 1982, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognized Wood Buffalo for protecting the Peace-Athabasca Delta and the whooping crane nesting area. The two areas were designated as Ramsar sites under the Ramsar Convention, which focuses on identifying and protecting critical habitat for migratory birds. The park’s varied landscape includes boreal forest, salt plains, and gypsum karst landforms. The boreal plains near the Northwest Territories town of Fort Smith are the most accessible and popular area of the park. Day hikes take visitors through boreal forests of spruce, jackpine, aspen, and poplar to see salt flats, underground streams, sinkholes, and saline streams. Wood Buffalo is home to such elusive species as black bears, wolves, moose, foxes, beavers, and sandhill cranes. But seeing these shy creatures is completely left to chance. The Slave, Peace, and Athabasca Rivers flow through the park. Opportunities for backcountry hiking and camping include a trip down the Peace River followed by a 7.5- mile hike into Sweetgrass Station, which features a restored warehouse and former bison corrals. The best time to visit the park is between the Victoria Day weekend and Labour Day, when the Pine Lake Campground is open. Summer temperatures range from 68°F–86°F. Community events include the Pine Lake Picnic in mid-July and the Paddlefest Flotilla in early August. Contact the visitor center for regularly scheduled programs and activities.