10 Awesome Things To Do In Yellowknife Canada

Most people visit Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories for the chance to see the northern lights dance across the sky. While viewing the aurora is absolutely the highlight of a trip to Yellowknife, Mother Nature sadly makes no guarantees. Not to worry, there’s plenty of fun things to do in Yellowknife if the northern lights allude you and to fill the daylight hours when the lights aren’t visible.

Yellowknife Attractions: What to do in Yellowknife

We spent a jam packed three days in Yellowknife at the lovely Bayside Bed and Breakfast on the shore of Great Slave Lake. We loved the spectacle of the lights, the charm of the Yellowknife old town, and the adventure activities on offer (dog sledding I’m looking at you!). If you’re wondering what to do in Yellowknife, I’ve compiled a breakdown of all the absolute best Yellowknife attractions to make the most of a few days in Canada’s far north.

1. Yellowknife Northern Lights Tour

Photo NOT taken by me. My photography skills are not up to scratch, and I barely captured the glimmer of northern lights we witnessed. Unfortunately, nature was not on our side this time.

What: The reason most people visit Yellowknife – to witness the magical northern lights

Location + Cost: Anywhere in Yellowknife, preferably away from city lights and cloud cover. Free to see ‘em alone, prices for tours vary. We paid $120 per person for our tour with Sean Norman, further details below.

Ticking off the northern lights is a quintessential bucket list item, and had been on my travel wish list for eons. When we moved to Canada, I was surprised to learn that Canada’s far north is actually one of the best places in the world to view the northern lights (take that Scandinavia!). Yellowknife is only 400km south of the Arctic Circle, which makes it prime aurora spotting territory.

Read more on the best time to visit Yellowknife for the northern lights and weather.

Ways to View the Yellowknife Northern Lights 

Contrary to what some may say, there’s no one ‘right way’ to see the northern lights. You have three main options.

Option 1 – DIY: Since the aurora’s just chillin’ out up there in the big wide sky, you can of course just sit back and relax at your accommodation or find a quiet warm spot and wait for Mother Nature to work her magic. Best for budget travellers.

Option 2 – Fixed Location Tour: Tour operators will take you to their camp or lodge where you can view the northern lights with some creature comforts. See further Thing to Do #2 below. Best for comfort or mobility impaired travellers.

Option 3 – Aurora Hunting Tour: Yup, this is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Join a local tour operator, jump in a warm van, and drive around the region in search of the best aurora viewing opportunities based on the aurora conditions and weather. (Much like the movie Twister, but chasing pretty lights, not scary tornados.) Best for those with a sense of adventure and a desire for the very best chance of seeing the lights.

Sean Norman Northern Lights Tour

I decided that it would be a shame not to join an aurora hunting tour, having come all this way (yup, Yellowknife is a teensy bit remote!). Many local Yellowknife operators provide northern lights tours. I chose Sean Norman’s aurora chasing tour, as he came extremely well reviewed and only takes small tours (max 7 people). Plus, I loved his stream-of-consciousness website, which sounded just like my jam.

Sean will pick you up from your accommodation at around 9pm, and will drop you back at 1:30am – 3:30am depending on the conditions. As Sean explained, ‘aurora chasing’ is actually a bit of a misnomer. Instead, you’re largely hunting out clear skies and good vantage points, as the aurora itself is not localised and will be visible during the right conditions from anywhere in Yellowknife. (But aurora hunting sounds far more exotic!)

Unfortunately, luck was not on our side (booooooo!), and dense cloud cover and snow showers were forecast the night of our tour. Sean gave us the opportunity to cancel, but we decided to go ahead since we were only in Yellowknife for 3 nights. While we unfortunately didn’t see the aurora on our tour with Sean, we still had a really fun night exploring the countryside, watching the snowfall and learning about the science of the aurora.

I would 1000% recommend an aurora chasing tour with Sean. (Yes, I know 1000% is not mathematically possible, but Sean is THAT GOOD.) Sean’s a great guide and is incredibly passionate about the northern lights, which totally shines through as he’s explaining the natural phenomena. In fact, Sean has made it his life mission to hunt the aurora, having moved to Yellowknife from his native Vancouver.

Disclaimer: An aurora hunting tour might not be for everyone. It’s a long night, with cold conditions, potentially long drives and no bathrooms. Sean has plenty of info on his website, so read up before deciding if the tour is right for you.

2. Aurora Village

What: View the northern lights from Aurora Village, with heated outdoor viewing seats and pretty teepees (and bathrooms, whoop whoop!)

Location + Cost: Aurora Village is around 17km from Yellowknife. $120 per person for an Aurora Viewing Tour, including transfers from major Yellowknife hotels. Dinner is an optional extra. Transfers back to town at 12:55am, or can extend time at Aurora Village for $25pp.

If want to view the northern lights with a little more warmth and creature comforts, then Aurora Village might just be for you! Aurora Village is outside the city lights (as small as they are) of Yellowknife, and has a frozen lake area and several small hills with different vantage points to make the most of the lights wherever they are in the sky.

If you get chilly, you can retreat to your heated teepee, complete with coffee and tea, or even to a heated swivel seat atop one of the hills (additional $25). There’s also a restaurant on site for dinner or drinks (optional extras) and a gift shop.

Sure, Aurora Village is touristy and can get busy, but it’s also super pretty, with gorgeous teepees and sweeping views on all sides. We only had 8 people in our teepee, and it’s pretty easy to escape the crowds by getting outside into nature.

We were lucky enough to visit during the lunar eclipse blood moon, and boy was it spectacular spectacular! The early clouds gave way to a period of clear skies, with sparkling stars, a glimmer of northern lights dancing across the sky, and an intense red moon.

I quickly discovered my photography skills were not up to scratch, despite looking suitably professional with my newly purchased tripod. I gave up on getting the perfect picture (or any decent picture really …) and instead sat back and enjoyed the pure beauty of the lights. We were pretty lucky to have this experience, as the cloud cover then returned and stole the lights for the rest of the night.

Would I visit Aurora Village again? While our aurora chasing tour was more my style, I’d definitely go back to Aurora Village if I had a spare night (and some spare cash!).

During the day in winter, you can also try your hand at snowshoeing and dog sledding at Aurora Village.

While we only had a glimpse of the lights during our 3 nights in Yellowknife, I’ll just take this as the universe’s way of telling me that I need to return to Yellowknife for a second visit.

3. Yellowknife Old Town

What: Yellowknife Old Town is the historic area of Yellowknife

Location + Cost: Central Yellowknife, around 1km north of Downtown Yellowknife

I pretty much love anything at all called an Old Town, an Ancient Quarter, a Historic District, you name it. My favourite Old Town of all is quaint Hoi An, Vietnam, with its colourful French colonial buildings. So I was pretty excited to hear the words ‘Yellowknife Old Town’.

Now, Yellowknife Old Town is not exaaaaaactly old in the grand scheme of things, as the town’s historic area only dates back to the 1930s. You won’t find colonial buildings, crumbling city walls or historic forts. What you will find is quaint log cabins, historic sites and local life on the lakefront.

Highlights of the Old Town include the Bush Pilot’s Monument with sweeping views over the Old Town (photo above), the Old Town Glassworks for a unique souvenir, visiting the many local art galleries, walking down Ragged Ass Road (yup, seriously!) and eating at the Woodyard Brewhouse or Bullocks Cafe (if you wanna risk getting yelled at … it’s a novelty).

Yellowknife Old Town is a small area, and is easily explored on foot. Alternatively, join a tour (see 4 below) for an insight into local life, history and culture.

4. Yellowknife Tour 

What: Kill several birds with one stone and take a tour of Yellowknife with a local

Location + Cost: Tour operators will pick you up from your accommodation, and take you around Yellowknife. Our Yellowknife City Tour with My Backyard Tours was $80 per person and worth every cent.

We visited Yellowknife in frigid January (hello -30 degrees!) so decided to take a local Yellowknife city tour rather than risk frostbite by walking.

Our Yellowknife City Tour with My Backyard Tours was the perfect introduction to Yellowknife. They’ll take you on a tour of Yellowknife’s Old Town and Downtown areas, and will tailor the tour to your liking. Our two hour tour took in the Old Town, including Bush Pilot’s Monument; Downtown, including Yellowknife Legislative Assembly (8 below); and the rather treacherous sounding Dettah Ice Road (5 below).

My favourite thing about our Yellowknife Tour was gaining a local insight into Yellowknife, and learning about the local communities and way of life in the harsh north. Our tour guide Mike was excellent, and took us to the usual highlights and local gems alike. Mike somehow manages to strike an intriguing balance between being both very local and incredibly worldly at the same time.

5. Dettah Ice Road

What: Ice road connecting Yellowknife to Dettah over the Great Slave Lake

Location + Cost: Bottom of Yellowknife Old Town. Free!

Ahmmm, what is an ice road I hear you say? Surely someone is taking artistic licence to describe a regular old concrete road covered in a bit of ice? Hell no! The Dettah Ice Road is in fact EXACTLY what it sounds like – literally an ice road made when the Great Slave Lake freezes over in winter. Ekkk! For the curious, read about the science and logistics behind creating an ice road.

The Dettah Ice Road is a 6.5km ice road connecting Yellowknife with the small town of Dettah. It’s popular with tourists both for driving and for getting incredible photos lying down on the ice. Check me out above, I’m in there somewhere amongst the squillion layers of clothing! Oh, as well as being incredibly surreal and totally pretty, the Dettah Ice Road is also tres practical, slashing the drive between the two towns by around 20km.

The Dettah Ice Road usually opens in December or January when the ice is thick enough (it’s safe, I promise!), and closes around mid-April. When we visited in 2019, the road only opened on 11 January, which was the latest opening since 2000.

The Dettah Ice Road is also a great spot for viewing the northern lights from the warmth of your vehicle.

6. Yellowknife Dog Sledding

What: Ride through the snowy forests with a pack of dogs as your transport.

Location + Cost: Various Yellowknife dog sledding providers. We paid $125 per person with Enodah Kennel including hotel transfers. The kennel is around 25 minutes from Yellowknife.

Dog sledding Yellowknife was another bucket list item of mine. (Two bucket list items in one weekend – cha-hoo!) I envisaged myself on some kind of epic overnight cross-country dog-sledding expedition through the forest. I’d be at the helm mushing my pack of dogs (see, I even know the lingo). The dogs would all fall in love with me. I would take said dogs home with me to Singapore. My pack would somehow thrive despite the 60 degree temperature increase and my rather small apartment. They would even become friends with my cat Juicy Fruit Mambo, who hates most hoomans and animals alike.

Anyhoo, I digress. Those dreams were rudely shattered when I discovered that Enodah Kennel only offers one hour dog-sledding trips, which probably wasn’t long enough to work my dog whispering magic.

While I didn’t leave with any new family members, I’m can say that Enodah Kennel completely exceeded my expectations. (And I have high expectations. I just can’t help myself.)

We had the option of mushing our own pack of dogs, or bundling up in the back of the sled in a warm cocoon like sleeping bag, with the guide doing the cold hard work. I tried both options, and loved them equally.

We had an incredible time careening through the snow in -25 degrees with a bunch of enthusiastic dogs, zigzagging our way through the forest and creating a new trail after the night’s heavy but fluffy snowfall. One hour dog sledding was a great taster which has left me sure to try a longer expedition next time. Once you’re back at base camp, you also have plenty of free time to play with the dogs, including the sweetest / craziest 4 month old pups when we visited.

I’m always a little cautious with animal based tourism, and chose Enodah Kennel based on the glowing reviews of happy and well-treated dogs. Hands down the best thing about Enodah Kennel was witnessing first hand the guides’ genuine love for the dogs.

Evidence in point: we met a dog who one of the guides rescued from being put down, a dog who was reintroduced to sledding after he was unhappy with the retired quiet life, dogs who sleep in the guides’ beds, and dogs who take sledding tours but don’t race as they don’t love it.

Our guide Sam spent time introducing us to the dogs, explaining the different roles they play in the pack, and teaching us about their training regime. With a background veterinary medicine, it’s heartwarming to see that Sam is  clearly here for her love of the dogs. (And she must be – having left the warmth of Australia for the harsh winters of Canada!)

You can see the absolute joy in the dogs’ faces as they get harnessed up ready for sledding. They’ll be yapping away madly, chomping at the bit to get out on the trail. As soon as Sam gave her command, the yapping gave way to absolute silence. The dogs were in their element, and the instinct to run took over. In fact, if the musher falls off, the dogs have been known to run for kilometres without their hooman.

Dog sledding was one of my favourite Yellowknife activities, and is something I’ll definitely do again.

7. Prince of Wales Heritage Centre

What: Museum focusing on the history of Canada’s Northwest Territories

Location + Cost: 48 Streetm Downtown Yellowknife. Open 10:3oam – 5pm daily. Free entry!

Did you know that the Northwest Territories used to take up most of Canada? Me neither! Learn about Yellowknife’s history and Inuit culture at Prince of Wales Heritage Centre.

The museum is small but interesting, and is worth visiting for an hour.

8. Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories

What: Legislature and seat of government of the Northwest Territories

Location + Cost: 48 Street, Downtown Yellowknife. Open 10am – 6pm daily, with free tours 10:30am weekdays. Free!

OK … this might be my (not so secret) inner legal geek speaking, but I love visiting seats of government and learning about different political systems. Case in point: I purchased (AND read) a pocket sized Australian constitution before visiting Parliament House in Canberra. Guilty as charged.

So, it should come as no surprise that I was goofing on visiting the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. We checked out the Legislative Assembly as part of our Yellowknife City Tour (4 above). Otherwise, join a free tour weekdays at 10:30am.

Our guide taught us about the history of the Northwest Territories, their fight for independence as a province, and their unique system of decision making by consensus (time consuming, but decisive). Legal geek or not, it’s definitely worth learning a little local history to provide perspective.

9. Yellowknife Hiking Trails

What: Hike one of the many pretty Yellowknife hiking trails

Location + Cost: Some trails are in Yellowknife’s centre, others are a reasonable drive away. Free!

It may surprise you to learn that hiking in Yellowknife is a year round activity. Unlike me, Yellowknife is pretty hardcore, and things definitely do not grind to a halt after a little snow. (If they did, everyone would be buggered given that winter lasts a good 8-9 months of the year.)

I visited Yellowknife in the darkest depths of winter, and wasn’t quite up to braving a long winter hike as a new transplant to a cold climate location from the tropics of Singapore. We took a short walk around the pretty Niven Lake Trail, an easy 2km loop in the heart of Downtown Yellowknife. (OK, I admit it, we only walked half of the trail on our way back from the museum …)

However, if you’re feeling active or are visiting in the warmer months, there’s some other great hiking trails around Yellowknife.

For a slightly longer walk, explore Frame Lake Trail. Frame Lake Trail is a 7km loop around the Downtown lake, with optional side tracks, and shoeshowing and cross-country skiing in winter.

If you have time for a day trip, head to Cameron Falls Trail around 47km from Yellowknife. Here, you’ll find a short 1.2km picturesque hike to a 17 metre waterfall.

10. Yellowknife Winter Activities – Ice Fishing, Snowshoeing, Snowmobiling, Snow Festival

What: Yellowknife is a winter wonderland! Try some winter activities in Yellowknife including ice fishing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

Location + Cost: All around Yellowknife, prices vary by tour operator

Unfortunately, we only had three days in Yellowknife, so didn’t have enough time to try out the other winter activities on offer. (OK, we technically did have time, but we spent all three afternoons testing out different pubs. A different kinda local experience.)

Some of the best winter things to do in Yellowknife are ice fishing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. You can DIY if you happen to be well versed in winter sports and have own your own gear. Alternatively, novice adventurers can join a tour – that will be me next time!

During March, Yellowknife holds a winter festival with a Snow King Castle, making March a great month to visit Yellowknife.

Read more: Yellowknife Travel Guide and Tips

Having visited Yellowknife in winter, I’m now super keen to visit in summer and make the most of the hiking and lake. Stay tuned!

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