Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Canada's parks in all of their natural splendor were recognized and celebrated in Fort Simpson on July 21.

JC Larter flies a kite beside the Fort Simpson Visitor Information Centre during the Canada's Parks Day events on July 21. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The staff at the Fort Simpson Visitor Information Centre organized a series of events to celebrate Canada's Parks Day. The day was first celebrated nationally in 1990 to showcase parks and historical sites in every province and territory in Canada.

Amanda Burrill, who works at the centre, said Nahanni National Park Reserve, is her favourite Canadian park. She spent approximately a month organizing the events for the day in the village.

"The falls are so pretty," said Burrill.

While attending Thomas Simpson School, Burrill went on a rafting trip on the South Nahanni River in the park.

As part of her job, Burrill now assists tourists in Fort Simpson connect with airlines that can take them for tours of the park.

For Canada's Parks Day, the first scheduled event was an ecology-based talk and scavenger hunt. After learning about local plants, participants were supposed to search for them around the Fort Simpson Territorial Park.

Plans were altered slightly after only three youths attended the event. Instead, Burrill and Gabriel Byatt, the manager of the centre, helped them build kites and fly them. The youths ran up and down the centre's laneway, barely keeping the kites aloft in the slight breeze.

Byatt said Nahanni National Park Reserve is also his favourite Canadian park. Byatt has also been down the South Nahanni River twice. More recently, he went on a tour to Glacier Lake with Simpson Air.

"It was exceptional," he said.

Byatt said the scenery in the mountains is always changing and developing. Residents of the Deh Cho are lucky to be near the park because it offers a chance to be alone in the wilderness.

Nahanni National Park Reserve isn't over run with visitors as some other national parks are, Byatt said.

After flying kites had lost its allure, the youths were offered bubble wands and bubble solution to play with.

While watching the activity, Mary-Ann Hannaford said Nahanni National Park Reserve is also her favourite park with Alberta's Banff National Park coming in a close second.

Hannaford has taken an aerial tour of the Nahanni, flying to Virginia Falls and Glacier Lake and then back over the canyons.

"It was amazing," she said.

Hannaford has been to Banff twice. The mountains were her favourite part of that park.

The other activities organized for Canada's Parks Day proved to be more popular. The free swim at the Fort Simpson Community Pool drew 27 swimmers seeking to escape the heat.

The day concluded with a barbecue held by the McPherson House, which approximately 15 people attended.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.