Auyuittuq National Park ( iu, ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ, , "the land that never melts") is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

located on

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

's Cumberland Peninsula, in the

Qikiqtaaluk Region The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ) or Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name f ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

, the largest political subdivision of Canada. The park was initially known as ''Baffin Island National Park'' when it was established in 1972, but the name was changed in 1976 to its current name to better reflect the region and its history. It features many terrains of

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

wilderness, such as

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s, and ice fields. Although Auyuittuq was established in 1972 as a national park reserve, it was upgraded to a full national park in 2000.

Location and access

Auyuittuq National Park is located on the Cumberland Peninsula of

. The park is located within the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. The park covers The Municipality of Pangnirtung website states that the park measures . and is located partially within the Penny Highlands and contains the

Penny Ice Cap The Penny Ice Cap, formerly Penny Icecap, is a ice cap in Auyuittuq National Park of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. It forms a high barrier on the Cumberland Peninsula, an area of deep fjords and glaciated valleys. It is a remnant of the last ic ...

. The Penny Ice Cap, made of ice sitting on

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, creates a series of

s, among them the

Coronation Glacier Coronation Glacier is a glacier on southeastern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. The glacier is on the northeast coast of Cumberland Peninsula and is an outlet glacier of the Penny Ice Cap. The Coronation Glacier lost its connection to the Elena G ...

. The land reflects the geological history of the area, with deep valleys between the peaks, which include

Mount Asgard Mount Asgard ( iu, ᓯᕙᓂᑎᕈᑎᖑᐊᒃ, ''Sivanitirutinguak'') is a twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped, cylindrical, rock towers, separated by a saddle. It is located in Auyuittuq National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baff ...

with an face, and Mount Thor with a face. Along the coast are deep, narrow

s. In

Akshayuk Pass Akshayuk Pass formerly Pangnirtung Pass is a mountain pass in the Baffin Mountains of Nunavut, Canada. It is found within Auyuittuq National Park. To the southwest is Mount Thor, about , and Pangnirtung, about and to the northeast is Qikiqtarjuaq ...

, the winds can reach . The nearest towns are Qikiqtarjuaq and Pangnirtung. Visitors wishing to enter the park are required by

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

to register at the park office in Pangnirtung or Qikiqtarjuaq, and attend an orientation session. Park user fees apply.

History

First established in 1972 as Baffin Island National Park, in 1975, Parks Canada chose to rename the park in order to better reflect the landscape and the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

history within the region. After some debate, the name was changed to Auyuittuq National Park, which is an

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

word meaning "the place that does not melt".

Flora and fauna

Little vegetation can be found in Auyuittuq Park, although the plants found there range from flowers such as

mountain avens ''Dryas octopetala'', the mountain avens, eightpetal mountain-avens, white dryas or white dryad, is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies. The specific epit ...

, campion, '' Papaver'', and

saxifrage ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 465 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

to shrubs like

dwarf birch ''Betula nana'', the dwarf birch, is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, found mainly in the tundra of the Arctic region. Description It is a monoecious, deciduous shrub growing up to high. The bark is non-peeling and shiny red-copper ...

, Arctic willow, and heather. Many of the plants in Auyuittuq Park grow in clumps to create their own warmer "

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

" to survive the harsh Arctic conditions. Because of the exceptionally low vegetation supply on land, wildlife is very scarce. However, the park is bordered on three sides by sea and marine life is found within the park's boundaries. Species that live in Auyuittuq Park include lemmings (both the

North American brown lemming The Canadian lemming or Nearctic brown lemming (''Lemmus trimucronatus'') is a small North American lemming. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the Canadian lemming is tangled with the Siberian brown lemming and the Beringian lemming. The Canadian lemm ...

and the

northern collared lemming The northern collared lemming or Nearctic collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx groenlandicus''), sometimes called the Peary Land collared lemming in Canada, is a small lemming found in Arctic North America and Wrangel Island. At one time, it was consi ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

es, snowy owls,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s, ermines,

rough-legged hawk The rough-legged buzzard or rough-legged hawk (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It ...

s, gyrfalcons,

beluga whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the whi ...

s, snow geese,

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

narwhal The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is o ...

s, Canada geese, Arctic foxes, Arctic hares, and some barren-ground caribou.

Activities

The most common backpacking route in the park is known as Akshayuk Pass, and follows the Weasel and Owl rivers via Summit Lake. In 2008, heavy rain and warm weather caused Summit Lake to burst through its banks, flooding the Weasel River and washing away the Windy Lake bridge. As a result, the hiking routes in the pass are limited to either side of the Weasel River.

Gallery

File:Mount_Asgard_3_2001-07-25.jpg,

, Baffin Island, 2001 File:Pangnirtung Fiord N 4 2001-07-25.jpg, Maktak Fiord Delta File:Lateral Moraines at Margins of Penny Ice Cap.jpg, Horseshoe-shaped lateral moraines at the margin of the

File:Auyuittuq ThorPeak 2007.JPG, Along the Weasel River, hiking to Mount Thor File:Mount Odin snow and ice.jpg, Mount Odin File:Auyuittuq NP 1 2001-07-25.jpg, Rock formations and glaciers. Turnweather Peak in the middle. File:Auyuittuq_SouthEnd_2007.JPG, Weasel River Valley with

Schwartzenbach Falls Schwartzenbach Falls, also known as Qulitasaniakvik, is a tiered horsetail waterfall located in the Auyuittuq National Park, Weasel River Valley of Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. With an overall height of , it is the List of waterfalls of Canada ...

in the distance File:Baffin Mtns Cumberland Peninsula 2.jpg, Baffin Mountains from the air, Cumberland Peninsula File:Summit Lake, Akshayuk Pass, Baffin Is.jpg, Summit Lake at

File:Pangnirtung Nu 2.jpg, Auyuittuq National Park Office in Pangnirtung

Notes

Citations

External links

Parks Canada official site

Mount Thor Peak climbing info

by ''Dallas Morning News'' reporter Dave Levinthal {{Authority control Baffin Island Parks in Qikiqtaaluk Region Protected areas established in 1976 National parks in Nunavut 1976 establishments in the Northwest Territories