Canada's First And Only Official Grizzly Bear Sanctuary Is A Pristine West Coast Wilderness For Animal Lovers

One of the biggest draws for tourism in western Canada is its wildlife. From whale watching along the Pacific Ocean to viewing elk and bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park, some of the world's most iconic animals call this country home. Canada has plenty of destinations which double as wildlife conservation zones as well. Among them is the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, a refuge near British Columbia's border with Alaska.

The Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary is the first and only section of Canadian land set aside specifically for the protection of grizzly bears. It's located at the end of the Khutzeymateen Inlet, a section of land also reserved for nature conservation. The deep blue water of this West Coast inlet is surrounded by huge evergreens and untouched mountainous scenery, creating quite a wilderness paradise. Khutzeymateen's natural beauty and its grizzly bear families even appeared in the Netflix documentary series "Wild Babies." The inlet and sanctuary are fairly off-the-grid, only accessible by boat, with only a few nearby towns. Even still, there are ways to get here while still keeping conservation top of mind.

Given that the Khutzeymateen Inlet and Grizzly Bear Sanctuary are protected natural spaces, humans can only enter with tour guides who know what to do when you're out hiking and see bears. Thankfully, the Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge offers tours of the sanctuary with their passionate guides from May through September. You can choose from four day tour options with each day entailing around six hours in the sanctuary. While this sounds strenuous, you'll actually get to do most of the wildlife viewing from a boat.

Throughout incredible backdrops of pristine grassy meadows and evergreen woods, Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge tours allow you to watch bears in their natural habitat, but without disturbing them. Remember that getting too close can disrupt their natural foraging and hunting behaviors. Depending on what time of year your tour takes place, these behaviors might include fishing for salmon, grazing on vegetation, or even mating. Keep your eyes peeled for other animals that call this sanctuary home too, like wolves, otters, eagles, humpback whales, beavers, and harbor seals.

Grizzly bears aside, even just the stay at the Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge is an otherworldly — yet ecological — experience. It features all the amenities of a luxury getaway, but with biodegradable products and green energy sources. Like the pristine Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary itself, the lodge is only accessible by boat. There are no other buildings within eyesight, making for truly unmatched waterfront scenery. Boats to the lodge leave from Prince Rupert, a nearby town featuring an airport with flights connecting to Vancouver.

Habitat loss due to farming, hunting, and other human activities have drastically lowered grizzly bear populations in North America. As omnivorous predators, grizzly bears regulate the populations of both plant and animal species around them, making them vital to their ecosystems. This is why the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary is so important, especially as the first such sanctuary, and why the Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge works to keep a minimal impact on the land around it. The Indigenous Tsimshian and Gits'iis tribes and BC Parks all work together to monitor the sanctuary. To have an ethical wildlife tourism experience, be sure to follow their guidelines and leave no trace of your visit.