Yellowknife
One of the best places in the world to soak up a breathtaking experience under the aurora borealis, but also home to my favourite restaurant, climate extremes, the quietest nature, and so much more.
Downtown
The Prince of Wales Heritage Museum has free admission daily and is absolutely worth your time. The attached cafe is actually a great, highly rated lunch spot. The Legislative Assembly, a short walk from the museum, offers an excellent free tour on weekdays, but you will have to get yourself out of bed early for it at 10:30am.
Downtown Yellowknife is also home to the NWT Diamond Centre if you're curious about diamonds in the Northwest Territories or are in the market for one (a diamond, not a mine).
In Centre Square Mall, you’ll find the Yellowknife Visitor’s Centre open daily, and most importantly downtown, you’ll find Zehabesha restaurant, but more on that later.
Old town
Old town is where I really fell in love with Yellowknife. It's super quirky, it's artistic, it's authentic and it's very 'Yellowknife' to me. It's a good place to wander aimlessly down some of the side streets like Ragged Ass Road. Check out the architecture, the painted pallets and rocks on the side of the road, and walk up the big hill in the middle to Pilot's Monument for gorgeous sweeping views of Yellowknife and Great Slave Lake.
If you're visiting Yellowknife when there's ice on the lake (November - April), walking out toward the houseboats from the boat launch may set you up for a rendezvous you with the Snowking - a man who works tirelessly on constructing a castle built from the snow and ice on which it stands. He begins harvesting blocks of ice as early as November for the opening every Marchish February. During spring thaw, you’ll find his kingdom turning to ruins as it slowly melts entirely back into Great Slave Lake.
Handicraft shops and experiences in old town are abundant and definitely unique. The Down to Earth Gallery is filled with all local artists' work. You can find everything from recycled glass making workshops at Old Town Glassworks, to creating little dream catchers at Mother Earth Rocks.
Nature in the city
The Frame Lake Trail is easily accessible from around the museum and legislative assembly area, or the western edge of downtown, and is a few kilometre walk, beautiful both in the summer and the winter. From downtown, make a day of it and enjoy warming up over at Tim Hortons on the other side of town. If you're here through the winter, you can always walk across the lake on the way back as a shortcut.
Literally just out the back door of the Explorer & Nova Hotel is beautiful Niven Lake with a well maintained and easy trail. The birdwatching here outside of the winter is wonderful and it's a peaceful spot for a small picnic in the middle of the afternoon with a few of your favourite snacks.
Becoming more well known are the Yellowknife ice caves/ice falls. They can be tricky to find, but our visitor centre can help with directions if you feel confident walking across a frozen lake and navigating some trails.
The Ingraham Trail
If you're thinking of hiring a rental car, especially in the fall, then oh my goodness, you'll definitely want to head out on the Ingraham Trail. But the Ingraham Trail is a beautiful journey through nature regardless of the time of year.
This begins just 3 kilometres from downtown Yellowknife, and will take you about 70km north east of Yellowknife through the countryside - glacier carved rock billions of years old and endless boreal forest. There are countless lakes on the way out - all worth pulling over at to enjoy the serenity and crisp air of, but some of the more notable ones for hiking are Vee Lake, Prelude Lake, and the Cameron Falls area.
Turning down the Prelude Lake access road, you'll find a 3km loop trail with breathtaking views and informative signage along the way. Further down the road to the boat launch will be a few minute trek up a boardwalk to a couple stunning viewpoints right out over the lake.
Further along at about 46km you'll find the Cameron Falls Hiking Trail car park. There begins a well marked and well travelled trail that is a leisurely 25 minutes in to Cameron Falls, and this is worth the time for sure. I think it's easy to spend all day around here - bring some lunch and a book, and enjoy.
Back on the Ingraham Trail and travelling further out still, you'll pass a few forest fire burn areas literally on the side of the highway - at about KM 56ish and 62ish. Soon after those, you'll come to the end of the road (literally), and you'll also see on the left side where the ice road to the diamond mines in the winter begins.
Without a rental car, I would highly recommend looking into a few different tours to get out this way.
Rosie Strong guides smaller groups through the wilderness and is an enthusiastic wealth of knowledge. And one day when I can bank my sleep, I'll finally book a tour her.
Highway 3
It’s all fun and games in a rental car, isn’t it? Welcome to roller coaster alley, aptly named for all of the permafrost induced peaks and valleys sure to catch you off guard more than once.
Pay special attention to the ‘bump!’ signs in all the wrong places and watch instead for the rubber marks in your lane as you would see on an airport runway from arriving aircraft touching down. This will alert you with approximately 2 seconds notice of a bump good enough to send the snack on your lap to the ceiling of your car.
The most common reason for tourist travel along this highway is for wildlife sightings, notably bison. After approximately 100km, you will pass through a small community, Behchoko, and the beautiful North Arm Territorial Park. Over the following 100km is perhaps your most likely area to see bison roaming freely at the sides of the highway. It’s not rare to see them spread out across the highway either, so do travel with caution. The bison remain in this area year round, and winter sightings can be spectacular with the cold, snow, and hoar frost in the truly dead of winter.
After Yellowknife flirted with total disaster in the fall wildfire season of 2023, you may be lucky enough to stumble off the side of the highway into some charred trees and find morel mushrooms growing from the forest floor. Fireweed is usually the first growth after wildfires in the north, and in the fall you’ll surely notice their distinctive purple flowers among other wildflowers or seedlings.
Dining
Zehabesha
My love. The reason I stay in Yellowknife. For when you're craving something different and definitely delicious - you'll find our much loved Ethiopian restaurant in town (surprised?). The food is wonderful, the staff - genuine, and portions - generous. Vegan friendly. This has been a once a week tradition for years for me now.
Bullock's Bistro
This was my favourite place to eat in Yellowknife until I went vegan/discovered Zehabesha. Everyday they receive fresh fish from Great Slave Lake, and whatever is caught, is on their menu with salad and fresh fries via a potato press hanging off the wall inside. Expect to queue out the door and spend a couple hours in a totally unique experience.
The Woodyard
They brew and serve their own beer (NWT Brewing Co.) and a small but delicious menu of food, including vegetarian options. The atmosphere inside is great, they have a summer patio, and you'll always find it packed with locals. It has been rated one of the top ten places in Canada to get drunk at, but just not before my tour.
The Dancing Moose Cafe
They are part of the Bayside B&B in old town and have a wonderful breakfast and brunch in a small dining room that overlooks Yellowknife Bay/an ice runway in winter. Their online menu shows some wonderful vegan options - both for breakfast and lunch. Be sure to call in advance and confirm their opening hours. permanently closed.
The Yellowknife Farmers Market
Every Tuesday from June 4th to September 10th, beginning at 17:15 for 2 hours in the park beside city hall downtown. You'll find home baked breads, pastries, and sweets, home cooks offering delicious full plates, some handicrafts, and later in the season, fresh produce.