This Lesser-visited National Park Is the Most Scenic in North America

The hike from Eclipse Bay was only six or seven miles, but with more than 40 pounds of camera gear strapped to my back, it felt especially strenuous. About a dozen of us from an Adventure Canada expedition cruise walked across spongy tundra and up one gnarly gneiss rock formation after another. There are no trails here; so few people make the trek to the Torngat Mountains National Park in northern Labrador, it doesn’t make sense to carve scars into the pristine landscape. Expedition leader Jason Edmunds was at the front of the group, rifle slung around his shoulder, scanning the landscape for polar and black bears that live in these gorgeous, but harsh, environs.

Trudging up our last hill, we finally reached the top to be rewarded with a gorgeous view: a huge, snowcapped mountain overlooking an equally massive glacier-fed lake, surrounded by flaming red tundra in all its autumnal beauty. A fast-moving river flowed from the lake through another gneiss canyon, cascading down, before spilling into the bay. I stood there, in disbelief that what I was witnessing was real.

I didn’t know much about Torngat Mountains National Park when I boarded Adventure Canada’s Ocean Endeavour expedition ship a few days prior. I knew it was remote, seldom visited, and stunning. The reality was all that and more. Adventure Canada CEO (and Edmunds’ wife) Cedar Swan says Torngat is becoming a popular destination for those who have visited Alaska and other Canadian national parks, like Banff, and are seeking new, more remote adventures.

“There are other tour companies visiting Torngat, but most of them just cruise the fjords and don’t go to land,” Swan says, adding that the Adventure Canada cruise is “the best and most cost-effective way to see the park.”

We were sailing around the Labrador coast in the fall, when the foliage was at its peak and before the winter snow began to fall.. Scenery throughout the park echoed what we experienced in Eclipse Bay, with mountains towering over vast rocky landscapes and the Atlantic Ocean stretching out in all its blue glory.

We spent our days exploring the surroundings by foot and boat. After paddling the shoreline of Ramah Bay, my group of kayakers ventured ashore to a small waterfall. We each took turns standing underneath the frigid spray, baptizing ourselves in the spirit of Labrador. On another day, the other kayakers and I saw a pod of minke whales breach the glass-clear water. I paddled faster, trying to get closer to the whales, while still maintaining a respectful distance, but they were quickly far away.

Kangidluasuk serves as a base for Parks Canada researchers and Inuit elders who pass on their historic and cultural knowledge to the youths. We arrived days after the settlement was packed up for the season and hauled away on massive barges. We hiked a ridgeline high above the bay, and upon reaching the summit, we decided to trek to the next peak a bit further ahead. As we went higher, the ship appeared smaller and smaller, more like a child’s toy than a vessel transporting hundreds of passengers. We hopped from peak to peak until we made it to the end of the ridgeline, and continuing meant a several hundred foot drop to the ocean below.

Parks Canada estimates fewer than 600 people trek north into the Torngats each year. Two reasons for the low numbers: the park’s location in remote northern Labrador and a provision that groups coming ashore must be accompanied by a local Indigenous bear guard, who often doubles as a guide. Many other tour companies have one or no Indigenous guards, but more than a dozen native Inuit guides accompanied my fellow travelers and I on our expedition.

The bear guides did almost too good of a job; during the trip, I saw a few black bears from a distance, while the polar bears were merely white blips on a faraway landscape. The rest of the group seemed pretty content with that. The closest I came to a bear was on a zodiac ride; the black bear itself was a few hundred yards away on the side of a massive cliff, seemingly defying gravity as it nosed around rocks searching for food. We watched for a bit, then headed further into the channel.

Although the land looks untouched, the Inuit and their ancestors lived here for millennia. During the cruise, we visited the remnants of a few villages with long-abandoned homes—a stark reminder of the forced relocation that happened about 75 years ago. The Canadian government formally apologized in 2005; a memorial plaque with the apology can be found in the former Hebron settlement. We were all pleased to see new construction—fishing cabins built by their descendants, popped up near the shore.

Arguably more important than keeping us safe from bears, our Inuit bear guards gave us a greater understanding of what it was like living in some of the farthest reaches of the Great White North. Between landfalls, visitors take in guide-led lectures about history, cultural changes, and life as a modern-day Inuit. At night during dinner, we spoke about those same topics and more. “Our hope is that people come home from this trip thinking more deeply and with a greater understanding of life and this culture, and that’s a catalyst for change in their daily lives,” Swan says.

Toward the end of the trip, we visited Nain, a small community of 1,200 people and Edmunds’ hometown. After a morning hike, we headed to the local school, where we watched kids dance, throat sing, and play traditional drums. Edmunds and some of the other passengers competed with both kids and adults in a variety of Inuit games, like leg wrestling and high kicking. The afternoon felt as if we were actually interacting with the community, not just observing them.

“In 2005, my wife, Sheila, and I took an Arctic trip with Adventure Canada, and it was unforgettable,” says Doug Rogers, a passenger from Vancouver, British Columbia. “We learned so much about the Arctic environment … but on this trip, 20 years later, they not only nailed the environmental and wildlife features of the Torngats, but we learned so much about the people of Labrador. Not just about their history and culture, but also what life is like now and headed into the future.”

While I recall that beautiful scene at Eclipse Bay often, I just as often remember the people who live there.