Practicalities and Activities
The easiest access to Fort Smith and the park is by plane, but isn't cheap: the airport is 5km west of town on McDougal Road, while thrice-weekly Frontier Coachlines (tel 867/874-2566, fax 872-4297 in Fort Smith) buses run here from Hay River or Yellowknife. If you need a taxi from the airport or around town call Portage Cabs (tel 867/872-3333), and for car rental contact J & M Enterprises, on Portage Avenue (Mon-Sat 8am-6pm; tel 872-2221, fax 872-5111). Fort Smith's summer-only infocentre on Portage Road near the corner with McDougal Road (June-Sept daily 10am-10pm; tel 872-2512) supplies information on the town and Wood Buffalo National Park. The park visitor centre and headquarters is a short distance west in the Federal Building at 126 McDougal Rd (summer Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; rest of the year Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm only; tel 867/872-7900 or 872-2349). For advance information, write to Wood Buffalo National Park, Box 750 (EG), Fort Smith, NWT X0E 0P0 (tel 872-7961, hotline tel 872-7962, fax 872-3910). Excellent maps and guides can be obtained from North of 60 Books (tel 867/872-2606, fax 872-4802), just opposite the town infocentre, or by writing to Box 1050, Fort Smith, NWT X0E 0P0. It's essential to prebook accommodation in summer. The cheapest of the town's three hotels is the 24-room Pinecrest Hotel , 163 McDougal Rd (tel 403/872-2320; $80-100), but it's worth paying a bit more to stay in the Pelican Rapids Inn almost across the road at 152 McDougal Rd (tel 867/872-2789; $100-125), a 31-room hotel built in 1997. The Portage Inn , 72 Portage Rd (tel 867/872-2276, portageinn@auroranet.nt.ca ; $100-125), has two doubles, five singles and a suite. Lower prices can be found in one of a handful of B&Bs : try the three-roomed Whispering Pines Cottage Tourist Home (tel 872-2628; $80-100; weekly, monthly and group rates available) or the similarly priced Thebacha B&B River Trails North (tel 872-2060; $80-100), which has two doubles and two singles (no smoking and no alcohol). There's a public campsite alongside the Slave River on the northern edge of town and the Queen Elizabeth site ($12) 4km east towards the airport. Most of Fort Smith's stores and its few restaurants are clustered in a tiny two-block area of downtown. Many locals make for the Old Skillet Restaurant in the Pinecrest Hotel ; for snacks and light meals, try the J-Bell Bakery almost opposite the park information office on the corner of McDougal Road and Portage Avenue. For most people the best way to see the park and its wildlife is to sign up for a tour . Fort Smith has plenty of operators: one of the longest-established is Subarctic Wildlife Adventures (tel 867/872-2467 or 872-2126, www.subarcticwildlife.nt.ca ), who offer nine-day subarctic "Wildlife Explorer" tours in the park and Peace-Athabasca delta region, and twelve- or fourteen-day Arctic/subarctic "Wildlife Explorer" tours in Wood Buffalo and the Slave River Rapids area before continuing to the Bathurst Inlet Lodge for tundra scenery, musk ox, caribou, birds, wildlife and Inuit culture. They also offer six-hour rafting trips on the Slave River and day bus trips into the park. River Trails North (tel 867/872-2060) and Res Delta Tours (tel 867/394-3141, fax 394-3413) in Fort Resolution specialize in fishing and two- to seven-day river tours on the Slave River delta, as well as a three-day trip from Fort Resolution to Fort Smith.
Your Tip for Fort Smith
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Fort Smith - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Fort Smith - visit the main Fort Smith forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Fort Smith webguide section below! Thanks.
|
