Canol Heritage Trail

The Canol Heritage Trail is a 350-kilometre-long (220 mi) trail running from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, through the Mackenzie Mountains, to the Yukon border. Because of its remoteness, length and river crossings it is considered one of the most challenging trails in Canada.[1] The trail is in the process of becoming a territorial park.

Telegraph pole beside Ekwi River

History

The trail follows the route of the Canol Road lying within the Northwest Territories where it is no longer maintained beyond the Yukon border. The road was constructed during the Second World War by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build and service a pipeline bringing oil from Norman Wells to a refinery in Whitehorse, Yukon. Though built at huge expense, it was abandoned after only thirteen months of operation.

Main articles: Canol Project and Canol Road

Logistics

The eastern end of the trail is at Milepost 4, across the Mackenzie River from Norman Wells, requiring arrangements to be made to cross the river by either air or boat. The western end can be reached by plane from either Norman Wells or Whitehorse. In summer, it can also be reached by road along Yukon Highway 6/North Canol Road. The road receives minimal maintenance and can be a rough ride up to the Yukon-NWT border where it is no longer maintained and quickly becomes impassable to most vehicles. The western end of the trail is officially the airstrip at Milepost 222 in the NWT. The small airstrip at Macmillan Pass near the Yukon border is also used, which brings the total distance to the Mackenzie River to 375 kilometres (233 mi).

Due to its length and difficulty, it should only be undertaken by experienced and fit hikers. Most hikers will take between 14 and 22 days to complete the trail. There are no services along the trail and, though it has been hiked with no resupply, most people arrange for one to three food drops to be made by aircraft.

Major river crossings include the third and fourth crossings of the Ekwi, the Twitya, the Little Keele and the second crossing of the Carcajou. Depending on water levels these can be difficult or impossible to cross on foot. There are also many smaller creek and river crossings that may be difficult at high water. A hiker died in 2016 after being swept away crossing the Little Keele.[2] In 2016 a seasonal cable ferry system was tested to provide a safer crossing of the Twitya,[3] however it has not been reinstalled.

In 2018 the Government of the Northwest Territories began building emergency shelters on the trail. [4] As of 2020 five shelters have been completed with plans to add up to 15 more.

The trail crosses grizzly bear and black bear habitat, so precautions should be taken.

Environmental clean-up and park status
A set of moose antlers tangled in telephone wires at Mile 170 on the Canol Trail

After the Americans decided the Canol project was a failure, it was abandoned and sold for scrap to Imperial Oil.[5] Some valuable equipment was salvaged but a great deal of pipeline, wire, vehicles and buildings remain as well as various contaminants.[6][7]

Clean-up of telegraph wire began in 2015 and at the end of 2016 over 70% of wire on the trail had been cut and stockpiled for future removal.[8][9] Work to remove contaminants, collect bundles of wire, secure standing buildings and address physical hazards began in 2018 and is set to be completed by March 31, 2020.[10] Remediation of the trail will allow the creation of a territorial park to proceed as set out in the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement.[11]

Other modes of travel

In 2012 the trail was completed in eight days, with no food drops, from Macmillan Pass to the Mackenzie River using mountain bikes and packrafts.[12]

The trail has been traversed by snowmobile and dog team[13][14] in the winter and by All-terrain vehicle in the summer.[15]

Attempts to travel it by off road vehicles in 2009 and 2011 sparked controversy in the Northwest Territories over motorized use of the trail.[16]

Images
  • Abandoned trucks near Mile 222
  • Pump station at Mile 108
  • Wanagon on the Plains of Abraham
  • Graders at Little Keele River
  • Dodo Canyon

References
  1. "5 most challenging hiking trails in Canada". Macleans. 12 August 2012.
  2. "RCMP recover body of American hiker swept up in river on Canol Trail". CBC News. 31 August 2016.
  3. "Up and Across: Safe Passage for the Twitya". Industry, Tourism and Investment. Government of Northwest Territories. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  4. Toth, Katie (3 November 2018). "N.W.T. gov't hopes to make Canol Trail safer, more accessible with new shelters". CBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-09-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Tangled Canol telephone wire could be thorn in territorial park's side". Northern Journal. 21 July 2014.
  7. "WWII-era telephone lines snag N.W.T. moose, caribou". CBC News. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-16. The MLA for the Northwest Territories' Sahtu region was disturbed by several unexpected sites along the route: moose and caribou antlers, tangled up in old telephone wires that in some cases hang only inches off the ground.
  8. Kyle, Kate (11 August 2015). "Canol Trail wire cleanup project to move ahead". CBC News.
  9. "One of Our Own: Jess Fortner's Canol Trail Clean Up Experience". Industry, Tourism and Investment. Government of Northwest Territories. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  10. "Canol Trail Remediation Project". Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. 23 July 2019.
  11. "17.3 Canol Trail and Dodo Canyon". Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (Report). Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. 15 September 2010.
  12. Christensen, Paul (31 August 2012). "Bikepacking the North Canol Heritage Trail". Yukon Frolics – via BlogSpot.com.
  13. Pelfresne, Rafaël; Michaut, Pierre. "L'Odyssee Blanche (The White Odyssey)". Canol Heritage Trail. Retrieved 10 September 2012 – via Tripod.com.
  14. Thomson, Bruce. "Adventures on the Canol Trail in Winter". Canol Heritage Trail. Retrieved 1 December 2016 – via Tripod.com.
  15. Peterson, Corrine (30 September 2010). "The Canol Trail Gang". Village of Hythe newsletter.
  16. Heiberg-Harrison, Nathalie. "Who owns the rights to Mother Nature?". Northern News Service. Archived from the original on 2014-05-23. Retrieved 2012-09-10.

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