(1) Nahanni National Park, N.W.T.
Located in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories along the South Nahanni and Flat rivers, this mountainous park is a fine example of the desolate beauty of Canada’s North.
(2) SGang Gwaay, B.C.
Sitting on a small island off the west coast of Haida Gwaii, this abandoned Haida village commemorates a vanished civilization, whose first traces reach back almost 2,000 years.
(3) L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Nfld.
On the tip of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula, this site contains the remains of a Viking settlement dating back to the 11th Century. A fragile, yet important milestone along the journey of humanity.
(4) Historic District of Old Quebec, Que.
The cultural and linguistic heart of French-speaking Canada, the historic district of Old Quebec provides an outstanding example of a fortified colonial town, by far the most complete in North America.
(5) Old Town Lunenburg, N.S.
Founded in 1753, this site represents one of the best surviving examples of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Settled by German, Swiss and Montbéliardian French immigrants, the town’s name pays homage to the House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, from which the Hanoverian kings of England descended.
(6) Rideau Canal, Ottawa, ON
Designed and built for military purposes in the late 1820s and early 1830s when relations between the United States and what would become Canada were less than friendly, the Rideau Canal remains the best preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America. Open for navigation from spring through fall, a section through downtown Ottawa turns into a skating rink in the winter.
(7) Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
This park was formed in 1932 by combining the Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) with the Glacier National Park (Montana, United States) to form the world’s first International Peace Park. Not only does this park offer stunning scenery, it also reminds us that nature knows no boundaries.
(8) Wood Buffalo National Park, AB
Home to one of the largest free-roaming herds of bison in North America, this national park protects a vast and varied wilderness area shaped by the Peace, Athabasca and Slave rivers.
(9) Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, AB
Aboriginal Peoples of the Plain used this site to hunt bison for millenniums by chasing their prey over nearby cliffs. As such, it illustrates social and commercial practices that only ceased in the middle of the 19th Century.
(10) Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB
Located in the heart of Alberta’s badlands, a cacophony of sun-baked ridges and gullies, this site has yielded invaluable insights about the nature of planetary life during the rule of the dinosaurs dating back 75 million years.
