Nahanni Canyons from Virginia Falls
Departing July 27, 2025
Join us on an incredible journey down the Nahanni River – truly the icon of Canadian wilderness rivers. The Nahanni flows through a mountainous landscape, over Virginia Falls – nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls – through Canada’s deepest river canyons, past hot springs and geological features so unique that the Nahanni River was declared the first World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1978. The Nahanni River’s reputation as a land of mystery and romance is supported by names like Deadmen’s Valley, Headless Creek, Funeral Range, Burial Range, Hells Gate and Painted Canyon. Inhabited by moose, caribou, Dall sheep, grizzly and black bears and a host of others, the Nahanni River is also rich in human history with legends and lore that are inseparable from its physical beauty. Each of our Nahanni canoeing and rafting expeditions include Virginia Falls, the canyons and the small and isolated First Nation community of Nahanni Butte. All of our Nahanni River canoeing and rafting trips depart from Fort Simpson and include opportunities for hiking. We predict you too, will fall in love with this regal river with such a beautiful name.
Itinerary
- Day 0: Fort Simpson, N.W.T.
- Day 1: Majestic mountain and Canyon flight
- Day 2: Virginia Falls (Náįlįcho)
- Day 3: Painted Canyon
- Day 4: The Gate (Tthetaehtłu ́ah) and Pulpit Rock
- Day 5: Big Bend
- Day 6: Deadmen Valley (Dahaehtth’į)
- Day 7: Prairie Creek (Tło Dehé)
- Day 8: Into the canyon kingdom
- Day 9: Lafferty Canyon
- Day 10: Kraus’ Hotsprings (Tułetsęę)
- Day 11: Great Dene Wall and Nahanni Butte (Tthenáágó)
- Day 12: Homeward bound
Meet your RCGS Ambassador
Liz Beatty
Liz Beatty hosts and produces Canadian Geographic’s new travel podcast Here & There. She’s an award-winning feature writer, podcast producer and broadcaster, contributing to the likes of Canadian Geographic, National Geographic, The Walrus, Readers Digest and SiriusXM Canada. At heart, Liz is a self-described travelling homebody. She loves to hit the road, but equally so, bringing home that bigger, more expansive sense of her own little corner of this wildly diverse planet.
Her work often reveals for travellers what home really means, to people across Canada and around the world. All part of a dogged belief that travel should make us more worthy global citizens, but also uplift the people and places we visit. So travel for good — everyone’s good.