Three Roads North From Inuvik

Truck Tours From Inuvik

Small Groups

So It Stays Personal

Different Tours

4 to 10 Hours

From $550

Per Person

Warm Truck

Starlink Wi-Fi Available

RIDE WITH A LOCAL

Our Home's Roads

Inuvik sits at the end of the Dempster Highway and the start of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, so the best of the Arctic is a drive away in either direction. Plenty of visitors take these roads alone with their eyes on the road, but we’d rather you ride with someone who grew up beside them. Your local guide does the driving and shares the place names, the families, the land, and what these roads mean to the people who live along them. We run three tours by truck, an Arctic Ocean day trip to Tuktoyaktuk, an Arctic Circle day trip on the Dempster Highway, and evening northern lights tours, and each one is the same guided, small-group, story-driven experience we bring to the water, only on four wheels.

  • Arctic Ocean
  • Arctic Circle
  • Evening Aurora Drives

Arctic Ocean Truck Tour

A 7 to 8 hour day trip to Tuktoyaktuk at $1,000 per person.

Arctic Circle Tour

An 8 to 10 hour day trip on the Dempster Highway, with a traditional lunch, at $1,500 per person.

Northern Lights Tour

A 4 hour evening trip at $550 per person, with longer trips available.

Driving The Highway To Tuktoyaktuk

Stops Along The Highway

The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is Canada’s only all-season public highway to the Arctic Ocean. It runs 138 km of gravel and crosses eight bridges, and it has been open year-round since November 15, 2017. We leave Inuvik and head north across the Mackenzie Delta country, pulling over whenever the land earns a stop, while Enoch reads the tundra the way most people read street signs, sharing the wildlife, the weather, and the family histories tied to the ground we pass. The road ends at Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea coast, where you can stand at the Arctic Ocean and, if conditions allow, take the toe dip and ask about the certificate that comes with it. Just outside town, eight pingos rise from the tundra in the Pingo Canadian Landmark, including Ibyuk, the tallest in Canada at 49 meters. We view them the respectful way, from the ground beside them, no climbing and no drones, so they last for the ones who come after us.
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THE NIGHT DRIVE

Chasing The Northern Lights

When the darkness returns in autumn and winter, we head out in the evening to chase the aurora. Our northern lights tours are 4-hour truck trips, and we drive out along the Tuktoyaktuk Highway or, once the river freezes, the Mackenzie River ice road, away from the town lights to where the sky opens up over the land. Then we wait in the quiet for it to show before bringing you back to town. If you would like more time under the sky, we can book a longer trip.

The lights are never on a schedule, so the night is built around patience. On a good night you might wait an hour before anything shows, then watch it move across the sky. On a cloudy night we drive back in, because we would rather come home empty-handed than sell you a sky that was never going to open. That is how it goes on any given night from late August onward.

From Late August

The aurora season opens as the darkness returns

Away From Town

On the Mackenzie River ice road or the Tuk Highway

We Wait It Out

We bring a warm vehicle and plenty of patience

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The Arctic Circle on the Dempster Highway

Down The Dempster

The Dempster Highway starts right here in Inuvik and runs south through the Mackenzie Delta country toward the Arctic Circle. It is a long day on a northern road, and the land opens up in a way you cannot see from town. We do the driving so you can watch the country go by, and we share the stories, the place names, and the families tied to the ground we pass. At the Arctic Circle we stop at the marker for photos, and we share a traditional lunch before the drive back to Inuvik. The full trip is an 8- to 10-hour day at $1,500 per person, and it is a separate tour from our Arctic Ocean trip to Tuktoyaktuk.
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GOOD TO KNOW

Rates and What to Expect

Our Arctic Ocean truck tour is $1,000 per person for a 7 to 8 hour day trip, and our northern lights tour is $550 per person for a 4 hour evening trip. Longer aurora trips can be booked if you want more time under the sky. Every booking is confirmed personally by Enoch, so you know exactly what your day will look like before you commit. Your date and group size are confirmed with you directly, with no surprise add-ons.
  • Truck-Based from Inuvik
  • Local Food on Request
  • Rate Confirmed

On Every Drive

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Warm Vehicle, No Planning Needed

We handle the route, the timing, and the driving, so all you need to bring is yourself, a camera, and everything you own that keeps out the cold. Locally sourced food can be arranged when we talk.

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We Drive, You Look

This is a truck-based tour with Enoch behind the wheel, so you can look at the tundra instead of the gravel. It is also the right call if you would rather not take a rental out on winter roads yourself.

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Guided By The Family Who Lives Here

Every drive is led by us, born and raised in Inuvialuit country. The place names, the families and the history you hear along the route are ours and our neighbours', not a script we picked up with the licence.

When to Come

  • Year-round: The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is open all four seasons, weather permitting
  • Midnight sun: Continuous daylight in Inuvik from roughly May 24 to July 19
  • Aurora: Darkness returns in late August, with northern lights viewing through autumn and winter

Plan Your Drive

By day, we run the highway north to the Arctic Ocean and back on a 7 to 8 hour tour at $1,000 per person. In the dark months, we run a 4 hour evening aurora tour at $550 per person, out along the Mackenzie River ice road or the Tuktoyaktuk Highway, and longer trips can be booked on request. Tell us which one you are after, or both on separate evenings, and we will confirm dates, group size and rate with you personally. Looking for the Arctic Circle on the Dempster Highway instead? That is a separate 8 to 10 hour tour at $1,500 per person..

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is Canada's only all-season public highway to the Arctic Ocean, open year-round since November 15, 2017. Summer brings midnight sun, late August onward brings the northern lights, and deep winter brings polar night and snow-covered tundra. Every season shows you a different Arctic.

No, this is a truck-based tour out of Inuvik with Enoch driving, so you can watch the tundra and hear the stories instead of watching the gravel. It's also the right choice for visitors who prefer land travel or who are visiting in winter.

 No, and we wouldn't want to. The pingos are protected within the Pingo Canadian Landmark, so we view and photograph them from the ground beside them, and drones stay packed away. That's how they've lasted this long.

Can I do the Arctic Ocean toe dip on this tour? If conditions allow, yes. We end the road at the Beaufort Sea coast in Tuktoyaktuk, and plenty of guests roll up their pants for the toe dip. Ask us about the certificate that comes with it.

No, they are two separate tours. The Tuktoyaktuk tour takes you by truck to the Arctic Ocean, while our Arctic Circle tour runs on the Dempster Highway as an 8 to 10 hour day trip at $1,500 per person.
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