45 of the Best Coast-to-Coast Canadian Wildlife, Road Trips and Adventures
Canada is ridiculously large. Over the years, I have crossed this country many times chasing wildlife, road trips and adventures. I’ve slept everywhere, from bedrolls under the stars to luxurious wilderness lodges, and once in my truck outside Moose Jaw waiting for a gas station to open. Somewhere between Atlantic fog and Pacific rainforests, puffins and polar bears, Viking sagas and surfers, I discovered that Canada isn’t just a country, it’s one enormous adventure story—complete with mosquitoes.
To celebrate explore publishing Canadian outdoor adventures for 45 years, here are the best coast-to-coast adventures from my personal experience and according to research and edits by the knowledgeable and adventure-loving explore editorial team.
Atlantic Canada
1. Sable Island’s Wild Horses
The crescent-shaped sweep of land 290 kilometres southeast of Halifax is wrapped in sea lore and shipwrecks. It stands as one of Canada’s most unique and fragile landscapes. Perhaps the island’s most enduring legend is its herd of wild horses, descendants of 18th-century arrivals that now roam freely amongst the dunes to impart a near-mythical quality to this distant sandbar.
2. Quirpon Island Newfoundland
Quirpon Island feels like the end of the world. A fond memory I have is sitting on a clifftop watching humpbacks feeding just offshore and northern gannets diving like arrows into the surf. Scanning the horizon, I see the ghostly apparition of a massive iceberg and feel like I’ve stumbled into one of those wonderful Newfoundland and Labrador commercials. I end the visit by getting Screeched In as an honourary Newfoundlander: I kiss a cod, sip rum and wake up speaking with a strange accent.
3. Viking Trail’s Vikings
In the 1960s, the discovery of a Viking settlement was made at the top of Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula. I visited L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, where the Vikings landed a thousand years ago. A Parks Canada guide handed me a replica helmet and broad sword and suddenly I was ready to pillage; I just needed a horn to drink ale from. What an epic experience!
4. Torngat Mountains National Park
Fewer than 600 people visit Torngat Mountains National Park each year, but those who reach this remote wilderness discover an untamed world of jagged mountains, polar bears, caribou, seals, Arctic foxes and clouds of very attentive and welcoming black flies. The landscape is so cool, you’ll want to come back as visitor 601.
5. Tidal Bore Rafting
Welcome to the highest tides in the world! Nothing says adventure quite like riding silty rapids created by the incoming tide. At Mi’kmaq Tides Adventures on the Shubenacadie River, we got tossed around like socks in a dryer and emerged muddy, soaked and laughing so hard I snorted river water out my nose.
6. Driving the Cabot Trail
Cape Breton’s Cabot Trail should come with warning labels for dramatic scenery-induced distraction, especially when you are driving it counter-clockwise, up high and on the edge. There is beauty around every bend and music at every stop. Stop for mouth-watering buttery lobster rolls on your road trip and a hike with horizonless sea views at the Skyline Trail.
7. The Confederation Trail
Some might come searching for Anne of Green Gables, others (less romantic) the Canadian Potato Museum. But I think you should try cycling the Confederation Trail, a 273-kilometre decommissioned railway line running across the island.
8. Kouchibouguac National Park’s Dark-Sky Preserve
I don’t see it—neither Orion nor his belt. Staring up into the dark February sky, I simply see an awe-inspiring canopy of stars. I thought the snowy glow of winter would lessen the impact, but stand corrected. “Summer’s humidity blurs the sky,” explains our interpreter, as he uses a laser pointer to show me a line of three stars, the belt holding up Orion’s pants.
9. Hopewell Rocks
Kayaking Fundy’s tides at the Hopewell Rocks feels like paddling through a geology textbook during a flood. Six hours earlier we had walked the ocean floor. Now we floated beside towering rock formations while guides explained tidal mathematics none of us truly understood.
Quebec
10. Road-Tripping the Gaspé Peninsula
I argue that whether it’s Land’s End or Land’s Beginning depends on how you approach it. We left Forillon National Park in a zodiac, following some showboating humpbacks, then boated home as the ocean got tempestuous. Sighting the cliffs of Forillon was comforting, while the Cape Gaspé lighthouse warned us off from an untimely meeting with Land’s Beginning. I thought my Land’s Beginning argument was gaining traction, until our know-all guide informed us Gaspé is a Mi’kmaq word meaning “Land’s End!”
11. Mingan Archipelago
Like a setting from a horror film, I was stranded on a small, isolated, bird-infested island in the St. Lawrence, surrounded by whales, dolphins, razorbills and puffins—can you really trust a puffin? In reality, staying in a century-old lighthouse station on the Ile aux Perroquets in the Mingan Archipelago was more of a romance—I fell in love with the place.
12. Belugas in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park
Dozens of Belugas glided through the St. Lawrence at Tadoussac like smiling ghosts. Then a pair of humpbacks breached in wonderful synchronicity. Who knew whales could fly? If you’re interested in Canada’s marine life, this is one of the most unique and inspiring wildlife adventures in the world.
13. Searching for Three Pines
I was on a mission. Not a murder-solving one, sadly, but something even more elusive: I was biking through Quebec’s Eastern Townships looking for Three Pines. This is a charming region of picturesque villages, wonderful inns and enticing bistros, wineries, breweries and fromageries—an inviting place, friendly and cozy like the setting in Louise Penny’s delightful mysteries.
14. Laurentians’ Inn-to-Inn Biking
Cycling inn-to-inn through the Laurentians is a uniquely civilized way to bike. Your luggage is shuttled ahead, and every charming inn offered wine, cheese and exquisite dinners. By the end of the trip, I considered myself an elite athlete with a pastry dependency.
15. Via Ferrata in the Outaouais
I thought I had signed up for a lovely Italian lunch at Chutes Coulonge, then suddenly I was harnessed up and climbing a cliff face. Via Ferrata is Italian for “Iron wrung,” but the rock-climbing assist makes perfect sense for a Canadian who likes to experience new heights.
Ontario
16. Lost in the Locks
The locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway are engineering marvels operated by Parks Canada staff infinitely calmer than boaters. I cruised the splendid waterway on a rented Le Boat yacht, accidentally drifting sideways into locks while pretending everything was under control.
17. Birdwatching on Pelee Island
Pelee Island during migration is a birdwatching heaven. Warblers fill every tree while serious birders wield binoculars worth more than my truck. I nod knowingly at species names, despite secretly identifying most birds as either “pretty blue one” or “angry chirpy fellow.”
18. Little Canada
Short on time? Visit our entire country at Little Canada. Tiny trains zip past miniature Rockies, orcas breach off Vancouver and icebergs float past Newfoundland. I searched the dioramas for someone I might know—you can get yourself ‘Littlized’ and added to a model.
19. Fly Fishing in Sault Ste. Marie
Ernest Hemingway called the St. Mary’s rapids the best fly fishing in the world. My guide casted elegantly, while I tangled line around myself like festive ribbon. The Sault is also a word-class biking destination, so you won’t be bored—it has a plethora of outdoor adventures for everyone and every level.
20. Hiking in Pukaskwa National Park
Pukaskwa’s Lake Superior coastline is rugged and spectacular, and the colour of the water looks Caribbean—although jumping into Superior’s chilly bath after a day’s hike will remind you where you are. Crossing swaying suspension bridges above rushing torrents was disconcerting, but not as much as having to squeeze myself through a crevasse on the trail named “Fat Man’s Misery.”
The Prairies
21. Riding Mountain National Park Bison
Nothing prepares you for seeing bison. They’re big and majestic. One stared at me so intensely I apologized aloud, despite having done absolutely nothing wrong. Hike, drive, camp and explore at your leisure—there’s space enough for you and the bison.
22. Prince Albert National Park in Winter
Winter in Prince Albert National Park felt enchanted. Snow muffled every sound—we even came upon an elusive lynx while elk moved through frosted forests like ghosts. Later, I laid on a frozen lake gawking at the night sky, and realized my boots were not Saskatchewan-winter-rated.
23. Paddling the Churchill
The Churchill River is canoe-country perfection: exhilarating rapids between endless lakes and campsites with million-star views. Unfortunately, there are also portages, which caused my canoe and I to enter a deeply unhealthy relationship.
24. Horseback Riding in Grasslands National Park
“I thought Saskatchewan was flat?” I whisper to my horse as he hauls me up another incline. The question, meant to be rhetorical, is answered by a sharp expulsion of air from his hind quarters. We ride past the Valley of 1,000 Devils, through a landscape of hoodoos, cliffs and rocky buttes, inhabited by rare burrowing owls, bison, rattlesnakes, pronghorn antelope, short-horned lizards and black-footed ferrets.
25. Dinner With Scotty
At the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, you can dine with Scotty, the world’s largest T-Rex. I am seated beneath this carnivorous legend who, thankfully, is extinct. Nothing enhances digestion like eating under a 65-million-year-old predator.
Up North
26. Churchill’s Polar Bears
“Don’t wander off,” you are told in a safety briefing. No worries there. Seeing polar bears near Churchill is unforgettable, and when one mammoth bear looks directly at you, you may immediately remember your position in the food chain.
27. Nunavut Northern Lights
Northern lights in Ukkusiksalik National Park Nunavut don’t merely appear, they perform. Green curtains rippled across the Arctic sky while everyone stood speechless in the snow. Green, purple and red lights dance in the sky, ancestors saying hello.
28. NWT Dog Sledding
Dog sledding fan-hitch style across the Northwest Territories felt gloriously wild. The dogs ran with joyful chaos while I drove the sled feeling like Sergeant Preston. By day’s end my face had frozen into a permanent smile.
29. Robert Service’s Ghosts
Dawson City already feels haunted by gold rush legends, but accompanying a modern trapper by snowmachine into the wilderness made Robert Service poems practically echo through the trees. It’s like a living ghost town, and easily one of the most unique, coolest places in Canada, if not the world. Don’t miss a hike through nearby Tombstone Territorial Park.
Alberta
30. Digging for Dinosaur Bones
Drumheller turned me into an excited kid working with a tiny brush, as I dug carefully for fossils. My only “discovery” turned out to be an old chicken bone from someone’s lunch.
31. Painted Warrior Ranch
At Painted Warrior Ranch, horses are promoted as healers, teachers and occasionally escape artists. Riding through the foothills with Indigenous guides brought a deep calm, until my horse decided a puddle was haunted.
32. Johnston Canyon
Johnston Canyon in winter is other-worldly, an enchanting blend of Disney’s Frozen and the Chronicles of Narnia, a fantasy land of frozen waterfalls, magnificent ice formations and gurgling, frosty blue rivers. The canyon is one of Banff’s most popular hikes in the summer, but it gets even cooler when it is iced up and in its winter attire.
33. Banff Trail Riding
Banff is crowded, they say. Yet, get an hour from the townsite on a backcountry horse adventure and you leave civilization behind. Riding the high trails through mountain passes is unforgettable and you’ll see more grizzlies than tourists. (And the occasional bear-bell in a mound of droppings).
British Columbia
34. Cycling the Okanagan
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail through Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton served up tunnels, trestles, vineyards and one rattlesnake encounter. After which I pedalled straight to a winery to “recover,” a remedy doctors probably don’t officially endorse.
35. Cariboo Country Cattle Drive
Joining a cattle drive in Cariboo Country was pure romance. Dust billowed, horses snorted and cowboys communicated mostly by flailing their arms at the beasts.
36. Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit
In Bowron Lakes nature designed the perfect canoe circuit. We paddled through pristine mountain-edged glacial lakes, while loons called hauntingly. Then it rained for two days, because Canada values balance.
37. Dog Sledding Mail Run
The historic mail run from Quesnel to Barkerville transformed winter travel into pure adventure. Dogs charged down snowy trails and I felt heroic. “Neither wind, nor blizzard, nor even flatulent huskies will stop me!” I yelled aloud. “The mail must get through!”
38. Squamish Eagles
Thousands of bald eagles gather near Squamish every fall, perched above rivers thick with salmon and photographers with big lenses. The eagles look profoundly majestic and mildly judgmental.
39. Sunshine Coast Hut-to-Hut Hiking
The Sunshine Coast Trail is Canada’s longest hut to hut hike, spanning 180 kilometre from Sarah Point to Saltery Bay. Climbing to the Manzanita Hut and its splendid views over the Sound, I began to regret the heavenly cinnamon rolls I had for breakfast at Nancy’s Bakery in Lund.
40. Desolation Sound
![Seals lounging on sunlit gray rocks along a rocky coastline under a clear blue sky. A distant tree line and mountains are visible in the background.]](https://explore-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/40.-Sea-lions-sunning-Desolation-Sound-James-Ross-1150x767.webp "40 Sea lions sunning Desolation Sound James Ross Explore Magazine")
Desolation Sound, named by Captain Vancouver who had no eye for beauty, took my breath away with its towering bluffs and idyllic islands, backdropped by spectacular fjords and snow-capped mountains. We sailed past orcas, Surf Scoters and lovely mermaids (or were they sea lions) sunning on the rocks.
41. Princess Louise Inlet
As we sailed beneath the towering granite walls at the end of the inlet, even my wife fell silent, awestruck, as Chatterbox Falls filled the void, its roar echoing off the sheer cliffs.
42. Saysutshun Island’s White Raccoons
Nanaimo’s Saysutshun Island offers Indigenous culture and its famous white bandits—who looked adorable until they attempted an organized theft of my daypack.
43. Surfing Tofino
Surfing in Tofino teaches humility and a groovy new way to talk. Pacific waves repeatedly launched me into the icy water while locals rode the curl effortlessly around me. Tofino is a paradox, a place to unplug and recharge and a place of relaxation and adventure. Its reputation depends on preserving the wilderness and solitude that has long drawn nature lovers and hippies.
44. Fishing Nootka Sound
Moutcha Bay Resort is a wilderness resort on Vancouver Island’s rugged northwest coast. Its sheltered location on Nootka Sound is known for world-class fishing, sea kayaking and wildlife tours. Okay, my wife landed the Chinook, while my fishing rod swayed in the breeze.
45. Spirit of the Great Bear Rainforest
The Kermode bear emerged silently beside a river thick with salmon. To the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, this very rare creature is the Spirit Bear. We are on a tugboat journey with Maple Leaf Adventures into the raw beauty and isolation of one of the planet’s most dynamic ecosystems and the world’s largest temperate rainforest.
After all these escapades, I’ve learned one thing: no matter how far you’ve travelled in this country, there’s always another wild corner waiting to surprise you. Your next great Canadian adventure is just around the bend.
So, which adventure will you choose?
