2024: Aug 7-18
2025: July 30 - Aug 10
193 km (119 miles)
$12,910 CAD + 5% gst
12 days
Canoe
Novice to Intermediate
Yellowknife, NWT
We’ll be paddling the upper part of the The-lew-dezeth (Thelon River), the largest river in the Barren Lands and easily the most magnificent. The Thelon is, without question, the most remote and the most pristine wilderness river of any considerable size left in North America. Our 120 mile (193km) long route is 80% river paddling. There are eight rapids along our route but no portages at all.
Our entire route is on the tundra, south of the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, and is one of the most remote places left in the world.
Big treed sandy eskers are prominent topographical features along our Thelon River canoe route. They stand out many miles away and greatly enrich the landscape. Scattered along these eskers are spike-shaped spruce trees and below their sheltered flanks grow stands of robust spruce and tamarack. Exquisite aquamarine ponds and kettle lakes with beaches all around are almost everywhere you look. The scenery along these eskers is so extraordinary that it seems to belong to a surreal, fairy-tale world.
There’s a good chance of seeing a few tundra wolves on this Thelon River canoe trip. About 80% of tundra wolves are white in colour, so most of them are highly conspicuous against the green summer tundra. Sometimes, they will walk into your campsite with 10 or 20 feet of us, just to check us out! Of course, normal, healthy wolves are completely harmless.
Muskoxen and moose are large animals we can count on seeing on this canoe trip. Most herds consist of 10 – 25 animals. Often a grizzly or two or three is spotted and occasionally, a wolverine or two. This is also a wonderful trip for birds. Birds of note include jaegers, merlins, bald eagles, osprey, many species of ducks, large numbers of moulting Canada geese, and several species of loons.
Archaeological sites are abundant on the Thelon river where ancient hunters waited for the Beverly caribou herd to cross these rivers on their summer migration. It is illegal to remove any of this material, so we will take only photos and leave them as they lay. We’ll look at stone caribou fences (used to funnel caribou to killing sites), tent rings, chipping stones, arrowheads and spear-points.
You just can’t get any more remote than the Thelon, anywhere else in the world north of Antarctica. Not only is the Thelon the largest and most remote river in the Barren Lands, it’s also the easiest and safest to canoe. And nowhere else on the Barren Lands today are you likely to see a greater number or variety of birds and mammals. Arctic summers may be short, but the Thelon enjoys some of the best summer weather in North America, thanks to it’s dry, sunny climate in this deep interior location.
Contact Jackpine Paddle at (867) 445 4512 for more information about our awe-inspiring Thelon River canoe adventures in Canada!
Looking for a canoe trip on the Thelon River with more whitewater? Check out our Clarke/Thelon River trip!
All aspects of the trip were very well planned & carried out. Food was superb. Emma did an outstanding job as a guide. She & Dan were a terrific leadership team.
We'll start this canoe trip on the Thelon River, where we will land in our float plane on Day 1. We will not likely travel far, if at all, on the first day of this trip. We'll set up camp and begin to take in our beautiful wilderness surroundings. During this evening and others on this trip, participants will have plenty of time to pursue their interests whether they be photography, fishing, hiking, birding, swimming or just taking a nap.
The Thelon is a big, shallow, clear-water river. We'll be canoeing its upper reaches but, even here, it's a big river that is very wide. The upper Thelon is easy to canoe because it's mostly fairly fast river with very few rapids. Most of the lake paddling occurs on the first few days of the trip. After that, it's nearly all swift-flowing river with only the occasional easy rapid.
The topography along our canoe route is hilly in most sections. The landscape is very scenic and is dominated in place by several spectacular sandy eskers, up to 200 feet in height. These are some of the very largest eskers in the Barren Lands. Spruce are most numerous in sandy areas, especially along the eskers, where some trees reach three feet in diameter and may be close to 1,000 years old.
Our float plane arrives around noon to take us back to Yellowknife. We say goodbye to this highly unique place of rich wildlife. Back in Yellowknife, we meet up for a farewell dinner and cold beers (after hot showers)!
– Charter flight from Yellowknife to the Thelon River, return
– Shuttles from the airport when in Yellowknife, NWT
– Certified guides with a maximum ratio of 5:1
– Expedition canoes
– Paddles, lifejacket, and paddling helmet.
– Group gear for each expedition (tarp, kitchen equipment, utensils, water filtration, etc)
– Expedition first aid kit and canoe repair kit
– Emergency satellite phone, two-way radios for guide staff
– Expedition tent (double occupancy – extra fee for solo)
– hearty and nutritious meals including snacks while on trip
– Group will be limited to 10 participants + 2 guides
– Off-river accommodations
– Commercial flights to and from Yellowknife
– Personal gear including drybag, sleeping bag, sleeping pad (avaliable for rent)
– Meals in Yellowknife before and after the trip (Day 1 Breakfast and Day 12 Dinner)
– Gratuity for guides
– Wine or spirits
– Insurance including evacuation, medical and trip cancellation
– Northwest Territories fishing licence available online
Really good. We’ve fine-tuned a delicious, nutritious and well-balanced backcountry menu of unique and tasty dishes from years of expedition tripping – and look forward to sharing it with you. Our flexible menu can accommodate vegetarian and gluten-free preferences, and will be tailored in advance for participants on each trip. Guests are always welcome to join guides in cooking and learn to cook our authentic, backcountry recipes.
Breakfast will include fresh fruit and a main course, like eggs and bacon or blueberry pancakes. Lunch features locally-smoked sausages, fruit, hummus, salads, breads and naan with a spread of cheese, jams, and a variety of nut butters. Dinner will offer an hors d’oeuvres, main course, and dessert! Snacking will take place throughout the day.
“Five-star campsites, with gourmet meals included” – Dave S, USA
You bet!
We are proud show off our local fresh fish recipes while on trip. The Thelon River has good fishing for arctic grayling and lake trout.
Jackpine Paddle is excited to offer Barren Ground Coffee on all of our paddling tours. Barren Ground Coffee locally-roasts fair trade and organic speciality coffee, 5 kilos at a time, on a beautiful craft roaster in Old Town, Yellowknife. Thanks to our partners at Barren Ground Coffee, we look forward to serving you the freshest roasted coffee in the Northwest Territories.
“We picked wild blueberries to top of the cheesecake” – Sophia D, Canada.
While paddling experience is an asset, this trip is suitable for whitewater canoe beginners – with the support of our experienced guides. However participants should be good flat-water canoeists, particularly when in the stern. Back-country camping experience is required as this is a remote wilderness trip.
“Our guide was always thinking, keeping the abilities of his clients in the forefront” – Kim M, USA
A detailed personal clothing and gear checklist , specific to your trip,
will be emailed to you in a registration email.
Check out the Youtube videos below with our tips and advice for packing your gear and personal clothes:
Essential Gear – Packing Tips for a Canoe or Kayak Trip
Clothes & Outwear – Packing Tips for a Canoe or Kayak Trip
Before you register for an expedition, please ensure each participant for whom you will be submitting a deposit payment (including yourself) has carefully reviewed the following:
– our Safety & Risk Awareness webpage
– information on your trip webpage (inclusions, exclusions, dates, etc)
– our Liability Waiver
Once you have reviewed the information above and you are comfortable with proceeding, we require a 10% deposit of the trip fee and online booking form completed, done through the “Book Now” button on the trip webpage.
Your trip deposit is fully refundable up to 90 days prior to your expedition start date. On this date, your remaining trip fees are due and all payments become non-refundable.
Once your expedition is within 90 days of departure we are unable to offer a refund for any reason if you cancel your participation.
Please read carefully: Should your expedition departure have to be cancelled, postponed or altered by a force majeure (including but not limited to: weather causing delayed or cancelled charter flights or helicopter journeys, fire, flood, pandemic, highway closures, community evacuations, ongoing or newly introduced travel ban or government statement), Jackpine Paddle and its partner operators are not obligated to provide a refund or offer alternative travel services.
We strongly encourage you to purchase:
1) Emergency Medical/Evacuation Insurance,
2) Trip Interruption Insurance and
3) Trip Cancellation Insurance – so that you are covered in the event of an unexpected change of plans.
To review our complete Terms & Conditions for Booking, Payment, and Cancellation – please click here.
Yellowknife is served by direct flights from southern hubs such as Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver with Air Canada, Westjet and Canadian North.
Age is a mindset, and canoeing is an activity that is truly for everyone. Age is not important. What counts is your spirit and that you are reasonably fit. We have had people paddle with us in their early nineties.
tundra swan, red-throated loon, common loon,
long-tailed jaeger, parasitic jaeger, Arctic tern, herring gull, American Robin, Northern Pintail, long-tailed duck (oldsquaws), scaups, bald eagle, willow ptarmigan, various sandpipers, common raven, rough-legged hawk, merlin, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, American golden plover, cliff
swallow, northern shrike. white-footed goose, common merganser, white-crowned sparrow, fox sparrow, lapland longspur, golden eagle, semipalmated plover
If you are a single paddler, you are more than welcome to join us on one of our trips.
There are additional fees if you opt for a solo tent, or local accommodations when provided – as these are based on double-occupancy.
Our trips typically have 2-3 guests who are traveling alone, so you will have the opportunity to meet and paddle with other like-minded individuals. Our guides are skilled at organizing paddling partners based on skill level and personality, ensuring that each trip is safe and enjoyable for all.
One of the best parts of our guided trips is the chance to meet and get to know other paddlers. We hope to see you on one of our trips soon.
If you have questions, we are happy to answer them!
You can get in touch with us at the bottom of this page, or at info@jackpinepaddle.com.
To check out our detailed Getting Started trip planning resource, click here!
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