Many Canadians assume that seeing the Northwest Territories requires an expensive flight to Yellowknife followed by another flight into the wilderness. That is one way to experience the territory, but there is another option that deserves far more attention.
You can drive north.
The southern Northwest Territories can be reached by highway through northern Alberta, creating one of Canada’s most unusual road trips. The Wood Buffalo Waterfall Route runs through the South Slave region and connects a succession of rivers, waterfalls, communities and northern landscapes. Spectacular NWT describes the main route as approximately 380 kilometres, but the distance is almost beside the point because travellers should allow several days rather than treating it as a four-hour drive.
Crossing the 60th parallel provides the psychological beginning of the trip. Stop at the territorial border rather than driving past it. You are entering a region many Canadians will never see from the ground, and from this point forward the distances, wildlife and level of development begin feeling noticeably different.
Head first toward Hay River, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Give yourself time to explore the community and shoreline rather than treating it merely as a supply stop. Walk along the beach, visit the harbour area and watch one of the country’s great northern lakes stretch toward the horizon.
Great Slave Lake is difficult to comprehend from a map. Standing beside it provides the necessary scale.
From Hay River, continue toward Enterprise and the waterfall corridor. Alexandra Falls is one of the signature stops, and the surrounding route contains several other waterfalls and river viewpoints. Unlike famous attractions surrounded by enormous parking lots and souvenir complexes, these northern waterfalls can still feel remarkably close to the landscape around them.
Spend time around Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park, and walk where current trail conditions permit. The combination of boreal forest, exposed rock and powerful northern rivers creates one of the most photogenic portions of the journey.
Then continue toward Fort Smith, a community on the Slave River that functions as the primary gateway to Wood Buffalo National Park from the Northwest Territories side. Fort Smith deserves at least two nights because it gives you time to explore the river, learn about the region and determine which portions of the national park are accessible during your visit.
Wood Buffalo National Park is enormous. At approximately 45,561 square kilometres, it is Canada’s largest national park and protects boreal forest, plains, wetlands, bison habitat, salt landscapes and portions of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
One of its strangest landscapes is the Salt Plains, where groundwater interacting with underlying geology creates saline environments that seem completely out of place in the boreal North. Depending on current conditions and access restrictions, this should be near the top of the list.
However, this is also a destination where travellers must avoid relying on an old guidebook. Wood Buffalo National Park has continued to deal with the effects of major wildfires, and trail and area closures have changed during the 2026 season. Parks Canada advises visitors to verify current road, fire and closure information before entering the park.
Wildlife is another reason to drive carefully. Wood bison can appear along roads and highways, and their enormous size becomes much more obvious when one is standing beside your vehicle. Give animals space, never approach them for photographs and assume that anything large enough to stop traffic should be allowed to win the argument.
A good South Slave journey takes five to seven days. Spend your first night after crossing the 60th parallel, follow with one or two nights in Hay River, devote a day to the waterfalls and then spend two or three nights around Fort Smith and Wood Buffalo National Park. If you are continuing to Yellowknife afterward, add several more days rather than pretending the territory is compact.
The practical rules are simple. Keep your fuel tank comfortably above empty, carry basic emergency supplies, download maps before leaving dependable service and check road conditions frequently. Northern travel becomes much easier when you prepare for the possibility that the next convenient service may be considerably farther away than expected.
Driving into the Northwest Territories creates something flying cannot reproduce: a gradual realization that you are moving farther and farther north. The landscape changes slowly, distances grow and southern Canada begins feeling very far away.
That gradual transition is part of the adventure.
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