The North is a majestic place where you can make your dreams come true. Our professional tour guides will take you on Aurora viewing, city tour, ice road tours, ice fishing, dog sledding,...
Aurora Viewing
The incredible spectacle of the Aurora Borealis, listed among the planet's greatest natural wonders, will be unveiled for you on a night you'll never forget.
Thanks to our prime spot below the auroral oval, Yellowknife is one of the best places in the North, and the world, to view the Aurora Borealis, also called the Northern Lights. The auroral activity which lights the sky is actually between 100 and 500 kilometres overhead and the most commonly viewed lights are various shades of green. Pink, red and lavender are rarer.
There are two main aurora viewing seasons in Yellowknife – autumn, when the land and lakes are warm, and winter, when all is dark and frozen. The autumn season starts in late August, once the midnight sun vanishes, and you can camp or canoe beneath the spectral glow. The winter season launches in December, when the nights are brittle, clear and 18 hours long. The two seasons Autumn (mid August until early October) and Winter (early December until early April) add up to 28 weeks when the Aurora casts its magic spell over Yellowknife.
Whatever season you choose, we have dozens of tour operators offering Aurora experiences for every taste and budget. Some operate comfortable aurora viewing facilities away from the city, while others will take you on an evening "hunt" for the Aurora over ice roads, or along darkened trails.
Our near-nightly magic show has an additional special season - the Romance Season.
When the Aurora dances in the sky, romance is in the air. The setting is beautiful, peaceful and relaxing – an ideal place to cuddle up with the person you love and watch the light show of a lifetime. Mid February and Valentine's Day attract the aurora/romance seekers.
Auroral Activity Forecast
Aurora Boreals is from the Roman name Aurora, goddess of dawn, and the Greek word "Boreas, the north wind". Despite this supernatural name, the Aurora is purely chemical. When charged particles eject from the sun and crash into the Earth's magnetosphere, atoms are set aglow, just like in a neon sign. To track the probability of active aurora (periods of unsettled geomagnetic field conditions) check out Astronomy North's aurora forecast. astronomynorth.com/aurora-forecast
For information on aurora experiences check out the operators below. Just click on the name for more information on their offerings.