Tucked away in the woods outside of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, sits a cluster of a few houses and about a half-dozen tepees beside a small lake. In the fall and winter, snow is on the ground, the dark sky is pierced with bright stars, and the howls of sled dogs occasionally carry through the trees and across the frozen lake.
The place is Aurora Village, a warm and inviting establishment in a cold and remote part of the world. Yet people travel across oceans to visit this place in hopes of seeing the slow, mysterious dance of the Aurora Borealis—also known as the northern lights—with their own eyes. If they stay at least three nights in Yellowknife, chances are good that they will see the northern lights.
The Mystery of the Northern Lights
The northern lights, usually greenish in color but occasionally appearing in faint red or blue, form an oval shape around the north pole. The lights are created when solar winds of electrically charged particles from the sun hit the Earth’s magnetic field and combine with the nitrogen and oxygen gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Because of its climate and geographic location (about 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle), Yellowknife is considered to be one of the best places in the world to view the Aurora Borealis. Unlike parts of Alaska, Iceland, and Norway, all of which have mountains and an ocean nearby that help create frequent clouds, rain, and snow, Yellowknife has a drier climate with about 240 clear nights each year, a fairly flat landscape, and an inland location that places it right below the stronger bands of the so-called Aurora oval. The colder, darker months of fall and winter (September to March) are best for Aurora viewing. Aurora Village, about a 25-minute drive outside Yellowknife, is in a prime location to see the northern lights, with a lake that provides an open view and a nearby small hill for another vantage point.
Aurora Borealis Adventure
Photographing the aurora borealis is one of the main reasons visitors come to this northern city of 20,000 in the fall and winter and stay up late into the night, despite temperatures that can fall to as low as -30F in the middle of winter. Visitors from around the world are welcomed to Aurora Village, but the majority of visitors are from Japan, who have a deep interest and appreciation of natural beauty, and will travel far to see it.
Aurora Village sends a bus to pick up visitors from Yellowknife hotels and take them to the facility. (Winter clothing can be rented from the Village.) Once there, one can relax in the dining hall and enjoy a snack of soup and bannock and watch a slideshow of recent Auroras. Visitors can go to the tepees (which have wood-burning stoves for heat and lights that result in the tepees glowing amidst a winter backdrop) along the frozen lake shore and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and stay warm while waiting for the lights to appear. At an extra cost, one can also receive a lesson on how to make a Dream Catcher, a piece of decorative Native American craft.
Once the northern lights appear, most visitors get their cameras in position and take as many photos as they can before the lights fade away or their camera batteries die in the cold air, whichever comes first. Village staff can help amateur photographers choose the best camera settings to use to achieve good results. Others will take heated outdoor chairs onto the frozen lake and just enjoy watching the slow sway of the Aurora Borealis.
Dog-sledding, Snowmobiling, and Snow-shoeing Adventure
Aurora Village offers plenty of reasons to visit during the day, too. Visitors can take advantage of a large team of eager Huskies who will lead them by sled on trails through the woods and across a frozen lake. For extra cost, one can steer the dog-sled team after a short lesson. Snowmobiling is also popular on the lake.
Finally, visitors can partake in snow-shoeing on the nearby trails, led by an Aboriginal guide. The 90-minute tour includes information about native plants and wildlife. When visitors arrive back at Aurora Village, they can jump on an inner tube and go down the giant wooden slide that will send them gliding out onto the frozen lake.
One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World
The Aurora Borealis is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, alongside Mount Everest, Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Paricutin, Great Barrier Reef, and the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Aurora Village has devoted itself to the northern lights experience, ensuring an ideal location to see this natural wonder—peaceful, remote, and welcoming.
Scott Anderson - Scott Anderson works in the emergency management/homeland security field, but also has an interest and a background in writing and ...
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