Visitor numbers stable
Tour of Nahanni Butte one of new programs
offered by park staff
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 24, 2013
DEH CHO
Staff at the Nahanni National Park Reserve are already making plans for next year following the conclusion of this year's visitors season.
Jerry Antoine, right, an interpretation officer at the Nahanni National Park Reserve, tells two visitors about a moosehide fleshing tool during a campfire program in the park last year. Visitor numbers this summer were down slightly from 2012, but were similar to those seen at the park in the past five years. - photo courtesy of Jackie Zinger/Parks Canada
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It was an average summer in terms of visitation numbers, said David Britton, the Nahanni National Park Reserve's (NNPR) superintendent. Seven hundred-and-sixty people visited the park, compared to 794 last year. Although down slightly, this year's number is within the general range the park has seen over the past five years, he stated in an e-mail.
There was a significant increase from last year in overnight visitors on river or climbing trips, but a decrease in day visitors.
"It's difficult to draw conclusions on why this is the case because visitation fluctuates a lot from year to year depending on a lot of different variables," Britton stated.
Simpson Air's summer numbers reflect the park's. The company is one of the airlines based in Fort Simpson that does chartered flights to the park.
This year, the company took 184 people on day tours to the NNPR, a 41-per-cent decrease from 279 last year.
Owner Ted Grant said the decrease could be partially due to highway closures during the summer that were the result of forest fires. He added that most tourists drive into the region and they know the road conditions in the Deh Cho aren't that great.
Although day trip numbers were down, the company did take more people, including park staff, and guides and tourists on river trips, into the park for overnight stays.
Although visitor numbers to the park were about average, there were a number of unusual trips during the summer, said Britton, including several trips to the Hole-in-the-Wall Lake and Mount Nirvana area, as well as a back-country hiking trip across the Ragged Range from Tungsten to Glacier Lake. The most adventurous trip involved stand-up paddle boarding on the Little Nahanni River and climbing and base jumping in the Vampire Peaks.
During the summer, there was only one injury in the park that required a medevac. A visitor was injured by a camp stove fuel cell that ruptured.
"Fortunately, after medical treatment in Fort Simpson, the person was able to resume and complete their trip," Britton stated.
Throughout the summer, NNPR staff members continued to offer programming at Virginia Falls and Rabbitkettle Lake. For the first time, visitors on the South Nahanni River were also offered a tour of Nahanni Butte. Pauline Campbell, an interpretation officer who works in the Nahanni Butte office, developed and
delivered that program.
During the winter, staff will be looking at creating new programming for the next season, said Britton.
Staff also spent time during the summer conducting an assessment of visitor impacts on campgrounds along the South Nahanni River and did environmental assessment work that could lead to future infrastructure development in the Glacier Lake and Cirque of the Unclimbables areas of the park.
Similar to the rest of the Deh Cho, NNPR also experienced forest fires this year.
The first fire started earlier than usual, in early June, and a total of nine fires burned several thousand hectares in the park. Most of the fires occurred in remote areas, but one close to the South Nahanni River, north of Rabbitkettle Lake, led to the temporary closure of the trail from the river to Glacier Lake in early July, Britton stated.
