Landmark North America
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park is a wild park in northwest Canada. It has icy mountains, wild rivers and grizzly bears!
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park is in the far northwest corner of British Columbia, Canada. It was set up to protect two wild rivers, the Tatshenshini and the Alsek, and it has glacier-covered peaks, with Mount Fairweather at its southwestern corner. Together with parks in the Yukon and Alaska, it forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park, a Class A provincial park in the extreme northwest of British Columbia, protects the Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers; Mount Fairweather (4,633 m), BC's highest peak, flanks its southwestern corner. It is part of the Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek World Heritage Site, which holds the largest non-polar icefield in the world.
Photo: Random89, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Tatshenshini-Alsek
This park is in the northwest of Canada.
It has tall mountains covered in ice, and two big wild rivers.
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park lies in the far northwest corner of British Columbia. BC Parks calls it one of the most spectacular parks in northern British Columbia, with glacier-covered peaks, wild rivers and grizzly bears.
The park was set up to protect the Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers. Mount Fairweather, British Columbia's highest peak at 4,633 meters, flanks its southwestern corner.
BC Parks describes the park as one of northern British Columbia's most spectacular, with glacier-cloaked peaks, wild rivers and grizzly bears. It was established to protect the Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers, which BC Parks says are responsible for much of what is special in the area.
Varied geology and great changes in elevation have created an exceptionally diverse range of habitats. Mount Fairweather (4,633 m), BC's highest peak, flanks the park's southwestern corner and is very rarely climbed.
- Where
- Northwest corner of British Columbia, Canada
- Rivers
- Tatshenshini and Alsek
- Highest peak
- Mount Fairweather, 4,633 m
- World Heritage Site
- Part of Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek
One huge protected area
This park sits next to other parks in Canada and the United States.
Together they make one giant wild place that people protect.
The park borders Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon, and Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska. Together they form one UNESCO World Heritage Site, which BC Parks calls the world's largest internationally protected area.
UNESCO first listed the site in 1979 and changed its boundaries in 1992 and 1994.
The park adjoins Kluane National Park and Reserve (Yukon) and Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks and Preserves (Alaska). The joint World Heritage Site was inscribed in 1979, with boundary modifications in 1992 and 1994, under criteria (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x).
UNESCO notes that British Columbia set the park up as a Class A park by an act of the provincial legislature, and that in 1996 the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the province agreed to manage it jointly.
Ice, rivers and wildlife
The parks together hold a huge field of ice.
Grizzly bears, caribou and wild sheep live there.
UNESCO says the whole World Heritage Site holds the largest non-polar icefield in the world and some of the world's longest glaciers. It is home to many grizzly bears, caribou and Dall's sheep.
Big rivers link the sea to the land: salmon swim up them from the ocean to spawn.
UNESCO describes high mountains, icefields and glaciers grading from northern interior to coastal climate zones, with communities from marine and coastal forest to alpine tundra. The site holds the largest non-polar icefield in the world and some of the longest glaciers.
Fish that spawn upriver link the sea to the land through the large river systems, and bears, wolves, caribou, salmon, Dall sheep and mountain goats that are endangered elsewhere are self-regulating here.
Rafting and trails
No roads go through this park!
Visitors float down the rivers in rafts and canoes, or walk on trails.
No roads run through the park. The Haines Highway runs beside it, and all hiking trails start from that highway. The only maintained trail, the Chuck Creek Trail, is 12 kilometers each way and leads toward views of Samuel Glacier.
Many visitors come for the Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers, where people canoe, kayak and raft.
No roads cross the park; the Haines Highway runs parallel to it and gives access to every hiking route. The Chuck Creek Trail, the only properly maintained trail, runs 12 km one way: Mineral Lakes come into view after about 3 km, and near the 7 km point it drops to Clear Creek, where Samuel Glacier comes into view; other routes follow old mining roads.
The world-renowned rivers draw canoeists, kayakers and rafters, but BC Parks warns that the park is very remote and that Turnback Canyon on the Alsek is extremely hazardous.
- Roads through the park
- None
- Maintained trail
- Chuck Creek Trail, 12 km one way
- Joint management
- Since 1996, with the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations
- World Heritage criteria
- (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)
By the Tatshenshini River
This photo shows a wide gray river, green forest and a big rocky mountain.
Pink flowers grow along the riverbank in front.
This photo was taken in July 2006 at the delta of O'Connor Creek on the Tatshenshini River. It shows wide, gray-blue water, gravel bars, dark green forest, a big pale rocky mountain with white streaks, white clouds and pink flowers on the bank.
BC Parks says the weather can change fast here, and snow is possible on any day of the year.
The photographer (Random89, own work) took it in July 2006 at the O'Connor Creek delta on the Tatshenshini River: a broad channel with gravel bars, forested slopes, bare gray peaks streaked with white, and pink wildflowers in the foreground.
BC Parks advises that summer weather is highly variable, high winds and long cold, wet spells are common, and visitors must carry bear-resistant food storage when camping in the backcountry.
Amazing facts
-
No roads go through this whole park!
No roads run through Tatshenshini-Alsek Park; the Haines Highway runs beside it.
The park cannot be reached by road vehicles; every hiking route starts from the Haines Highway, which runs parallel to it.
-
Snow can fall here even in summer!
BC Parks says snow is possible on any day of the year in this park.
Summer weather is highly variable: BC Parks warns that snow is possible any day of the year and fog can roll in at any time.
-
These parks hold a giant field of ice that is not near the North or South Pole!
The World Heritage Site that includes this park holds the largest non-polar icefield in the world.
UNESCO says the joint property contains the largest non-polar icefield in the world and some of the world's longest glaciers.
Words to know
- glacier
- a huge mass of ice that moves slowly down a mountain or valley
- icefield
- a wide area of ice that joins many glaciers together
- delta
- land built up where a river or creek drops sand and gravel as it meets other water
- gravel bar
- a low bank of stones and sand in a river
- spawn
- to lay eggs in water, as fish do
- wilderness
- wild land with few or no roads or buildings
Discovery challenge
-
In which Canadian province is this park?
Tatshenshini-Alsek Park is in the northwest corner of which province?
Which province's legislature set up Tatshenshini-Alsek as a Class A park?
- British Columbia
- Ontario
- Quebec
Show the answer
British Columbia
British Columbia!
British Columbia.
British Columbia.
-
Which two rivers was the park made to protect?
The park was set up to protect which two rivers?
Which two rivers does BC Parks say the park was established to protect?
- The Tatshenshini and the Alsek
- The Amazon and the Nile
- The Thames and the Seine
Show the answer
The Tatshenshini and the Alsek
The Tatshenshini and the Alsek!
The Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers.
The Tatshenshini and Alsek rivers.
-
Which tall mountain is at the edge of the park?
Which peak, British Columbia's highest, flanks the park?
Which 4,633-meter peak, BC's highest, flanks the park's southwestern corner?
- Mount Fairweather
- Mount Everest
- Mount Fuji
Show the answer
Mount Fairweather
Mount Fairweather!
Mount Fairweather, 4,633 meters.
Mount Fairweather.
-
Which big animals live here?
Which large animals does UNESCO say are common in this World Heritage Site?
Besides caribou and Dall's sheep, which animal does UNESCO name first as numerous here?
- Grizzly bears
- Kangaroos
- Camels
Show the answer
Grizzly bears
Grizzly bears!
Grizzly bears (and caribou and Dall's sheep).
Grizzly bears.
-
How many roads go through the park?
How many roads run through Tatshenshini-Alsek Park?
How many roads cross the park, according to BC Parks?
- None
- Ten
- One hundred
Show the answer
None
None at all!
None: trails start from the Haines Highway beside it.
None; the Haines Highway runs parallel to the park.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain why parks in different countries might join together to protect one area.
- Describe how glaciers and rivers shape mountain valleys.
- Explain how salmon link the sea and the land.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a park be kept free of roads?
- What should visitors do to stay safe in a wild place with bears?
- Why is it good for First Nations and the province to look after a park together?
Try at home or in class
- Freeze water in a tray with sand on top, then tilt it and watch how the melting ice carries the sand, like a glacier.
- Find British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska on a map and trace where the four parks meet.
Key vocabulary: glacier, icefield, delta, gravel bar, spawn, wilderness
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Tatshenshini-Alsek Park , BC Parks
- Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- File:O'Connor Delta in Tatshenshini River.JPG , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.