Canada's Largest Island Is A Remote Gem With Adventurous Parks, Unique Wildlife, And Stunning Glacier Landscapes

Here's a hot tip that many visitors to Canada miss: For some of North America's greatest adventures, go north — way north. If you're seeking untamed nature, stunning scenery, and bucket-list wildlife, it's Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic that you're looking for. 

The largest island in Canada, its isolated location between Greenland and the northern Canadian mainland ensures that only the truly adventurous make the trek. Those who do will be rewarded with wildlife sightings, stunning landscapes, and one of Canada's wildest national parks. Baffin Island is pure adventure from the ice caps atop craggy peaks and glaciers at the head of the majestic fjords of Auyuittuq National Park. And wherever you go, the chance of an exciting wildlife sighting is high. 

But it is also an adventure in the truest sense of the word, and that means preparation is essential. Most visitors explore Baffin Island with a reputable cruise or tour company experienced in polar expeditions. The window to visit is largely limited to the period from July to September because cruises usually set out from Greenland across waters that freeze over in winter. That means shelling out for an expedition-style trip and planning for the narrow visiting window. But these challenges mean solitude and raw, rugged Arctic nature at its finest. Visitors who put in the work to get there will set out on a once-in-a-lifetime experience, much like the ethereal, otherworldly cruises you can take to see Antarctica.

There are only a handful of places in the world that have experienced the right geological conditions for the formation of fjords, deep U-shaped valleys carved out by the movement of glaciers and filled in with seawater. Baffin Island is one of them, but unlike most places where the glaciers retreated millennia ago, this is a living, active glacial landscape. A frozen landscape covers wide swaths of the island in the form of ice caps, curving like rivers of ice through the mountains of the island's interior, and in fjords where millennia-old glaciers meet the sea. You may also drift past icebergs as you cruise the island's shores, many of which have drifted west after breaking off glaciers in Greenland.

Much of that dramatic scenery is found in Auyuittuq National Park, a 7,370-square-mile stretch of the island. This is a true Arctic wilderness, one where sparse tundra and towering peaks terminate at the coastal cliffs nearly 3,000 feet high. Glaciers and ice cover make up 40% of the park's area, with the Penny Ice Cap alone covering 28%. It is this vastness that recommends Auyuttiuq as a stellar encapsulation of what makes Baffin Island so special.

While most visitors come by sea, you'll still likely be able to experience the park for a taste of the island's interior. Both hiking and coastal excursions in the park are common additions to expedition cruises that visit. You can also book multi-day guided camping trips that access remote regions via snowmobile if you want to explore more of the island by land. Not that you'll want to sleep, though — this Canadian island is also one of the best places to view the northern lights.

Baffin Island may be a wind-battered Arctic land where ice and snow reign for much of the year, but it's hardly devoid of life. If you've ever dreamed of spotting a polar bear lumbering across the tundra or seeing a narwhal's tusk break the surface of a glassy Arctic sea, Baffin Island deserves to be on your bucket list.

Marine life is a highlight here — Canada is, after all, one of the world's best destinations for whale watching. You may spot the rare bowhead whale, narwhal, orcas, belugas, and walruses, which are frequently seen alongside several species of seals. Birders will also be able to add unusual far-northern species to their life lists among Baffin Island's huge variety of migratory and year-round resident birds. Large land mammals are well-represented by the polar bears, Arctic wolves, and caribou. A variety of expedition types, whether adventure cruises or floe-edge camping expeditions, focus on these wildlife sightings and offer opportunities to see species elusive elsewhere.

Getting to Baffin Island will certainly cost you, and it demands not only time and money but a tolerance for cold, patience, and sticking to a set schedule. But in return, you'll come home with stories of wildlife sightings, creeping glaciers, and the sparse, solitary grandeur of one of the very few truly wild places that remain on our planet. It is truly a world apart, one that demands much but rewards those who make it there with even more, and what is adventure if not that?