The YukonHerschel Island - Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park
Yukon's only Arctic Ocean island, a 19th-century whaling station, and a living Inuvialuit homeland now facing rapid climate change.
An island with a remarkable past
Qikiqtaruk means "it is an island" in Inuvialuktun, and it sits just 5 km off Yukon's north coast in the Beaufort Sea, the territory's only offshore island. Established in 1987, it was Yukon's first territorial park, protecting both an extraordinary human history and a fragile Arctic ecosystem.
Inuvialuit people have used the island for thousands of years, and their presence continues today. In the late 1800s, American whalers built a station at Pauline Cove hunting bowhead whales, and by the mid-1890s, the settlement had swelled to more than 1,500 people, missionaries, RCMP officers, and Inuvialuit families among them, a startling number for what's now an uninhabited stretch of Arctic coastline. A dozen or so original wooden buildings still stand at Pauline Cove today, including the Community House, built in 1893.
Wildlife and setting
The island supports a genuinely rich Arctic ecosystem: muskoxen and caribou range across the tundra, seals haul out on the sea ice, and bowhead and beluga whales pass offshore. Pauline Cove is home to the largest colony of Black Guillemots in the Western Arctic, and more than 100 other bird species use the island. Arctic wildflowers bloom under the nearly 24-hour daylight of the short summer season.
The island is also on the front line of a changing Arctic. Permafrost thaw and coastal erosion are real, ongoing threats here, serious enough that the park's own ranger station has had to be relocated more than once, though exact erosion rates vary year to year and shouldn't be quoted as a fixed number.
Getting there
Access runs from mid-June to mid-September only. Most visitors charter a boat or aircraft out of Inuvik, NWT, about 250 km southeast of the park, and a park permit is required to land an aircraft on the island. Weather is a real factor: fog and pack ice regularly delay flights, sometimes for days, so build flexibility into your plans. A more adventurous route exists for experienced paddlers: those rafting or kayaking the Firth River, which cuts through northern Yukon and empties into the Beaufort Sea, can continue on across the roughly 5 km Workboat Passage to end their trip directly at the island, though return travel needs to be arranged in advance.
Questions, answered
What does "Qikiqtaruk" mean?
"It is an island," in Inuvialuktun. It's also known as Herschel Island.
When can I visit?
Mid-June to mid-September only. Outside this window, sea ice and weather make the island inaccessible.
How do I get there?
By chartered boat or aircraft from Inuvik, NWT (about 250 km southeast), with a park permit required to land. Experienced Firth River paddlers can also reach the island directly by water, arranging return transport in advance.
What's the historical significance of Pauline Cove?
American whalers established a station there in the late 1800s, and by the mid-1890s it had grown to more than 1,500 residents. Several original wooden buildings, including the 1893 Community House, still stand today.
Is the island inhabited today?
Not permanently, though Inuvialuit continue to use it for fishing and hunting, and Yukon Parks rangers, often Inuvialuit themselves, are present through the summer season.
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