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Nachvak Fiord, Torngat Mts, Canada

Nachvak Fiord: Sheer Cliffs, Polar Bears, and Thousands of Years of Human History

Deep in the Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador, Nachvak Fiord lies inside a national park with no roads, trails or buildings. Inuit have lived and traveled here for centuries, and the park protects their homeland. Polar bears are very likely to be nearby, so every step ashore follows the expedition team's bear-safety rules.

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What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Nachvak Fiord

Nachvak Fiord is a wilderness stop with no town, no dock and no facilities. Cruise ships are one of the few ways in, and your ship's team decides where and how passengers go ashore.

  • The fiord is nearly 2 km wide and about 20 km long, and it divides into two arms at its western end, Tallek Arm and Tasiuyak Arm.
  • It lies within Torngat Mountains National Park, which covers 9,700 square kilometers of northern Labrador and receives fewer than 600 visitors a year.
  • There are no roads, trails, signs or shops in the park, so bring everything you need ashore.
  • The mountains around the fiord are the highest in Labrador, with Mount Caubvick to the south of the fiord and Mount Razorback to its north.

Getting Around Nachvak Fiord

There is no way to get around Nachvak Fiord except on foot over open ground or by boat. Every visit ashore depends on the weather and on the expedition team's judgment about bears.

  • On foot: There are no marked trails, only unmarked routes and traditional Inuit travel routes marked by stone cairns, called inuksuit.
  • Polar bears: The chance of meeting a polar bear or a black bear in the Torngat Mountains is extremely high. The safest way to move around is with an experienced Inuit bear guard, who may legally carry a firearm in the park.
  • Weather: Conditions change fast and can be bitterly cold even in summer, so bring warm clothing even for a short landing.
  • Drones: Flying a drone in the park needs a special federal permit and the park superintendent's permission, so leave it on the ship.

Inuit Guides and the Living Heritage of the Torngat

Torngat Mountains National Park was created to honor the bond between the Inuit of Labrador and Nunavik and this land. Torngat comes from Tongait, an Inuktitut word for a "place of spirits."

  • Inuit homeland: The park lies in Nunatsiavut, the Inuit region of Labrador, and is managed jointly with Inuit. Under the land claims agreements, Inuit continue to hunt, fish and trap within the park.
  • Spirits: Inuit tradition tells of Torngarsoak, believed to control the life of sea animals and to take the form of a huge polar bear.
  • Travel routes: Stone cairns, inuksuit, still mark traditional routes through the mountains.
  • Sharing the land: Visitors who stay at the Torngat Mountains Base Camp, at the park's southern edge and a separate place from the fiord, join programs led by Parks Canada staff and Inuit guides, and Inuit elders and youth stay there each summer.

Ramah Chert, Soapstone, and the Deep Human Geography of the Torngat

People have lived in and traveled through the Torngat Mountains for thousands of years, and the park holds hundreds of archaeological sites, some almost 7,000 years old. Nachvak itself was an Inuit summer fishing station and, for nearly four decades, a trading post.

  • Earliest peoples: Sites in the park show that Maritime Archaic peoples lived here, then Pre-Dorset and Dorset peoples, and later the Thule, whose culture merged into that of today's Inuit.
  • Ramah chert: For thousands of years, people quarried a glassy stone in the region called Ramah chert to make tools, and traded it as far south as Maine.
  • Soapstone: People in the mountains quarried soapstone to carve oil lamps.
  • Thule sites: Artifacts from a Thule sod house have been found at Nachvak Fiord.
  • 1868 to 1905: The Hudson's Bay Company ran a trading post at Nachvak, its most northerly post in Labrador.
  • Early 1900s: Moravian missionaries persuaded several Inuit families from the area to move to the mission at Killiniq in 1904, and hoped to bring the rest to Hebron.
  • 1943: A German submarine landed a remote-controlled weather station on the Hutton Peninsula, in what is now the park.
  • 2005 and 2008: The Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement set the area aside as a park reserve in 2005, and it became Torngat Mountains National Park on July 10, 2008.

Nachvak Fiord with Children

Nachvak Fiord is an adventurous stop for families who are comfortable in wild, cold places. There are no facilities ashore, and polar bears are a real presence, so children need to stay with the group at all times.

  • Younger children: The landing itself is the whole visit, with no amenities of any kind, so bring warm layers, snacks and anything a small child may need.
  • School age: Watching for caribou, seals and birds from the shore or the boat keeps children engaged.
  • Teenagers: Stone cairns and the long human history of the mountains give older children something to look out for and ask the expedition team about.
  • Bear safety: Bears are very likely to be in the area, so follow the guides' instructions exactly.

Accessibility at Nachvak Fiord

Nachvak Fiord has no roads, paths, docks or buildings, so going ashore means crossing open, uneven ground. Visitors with limited mobility should ask the ship's team exactly what a landing involves before deciding to go.

  • Terrain: There are no trails, and the ground is untouched wilderness.
  • Facilities: There are no amenities of any kind in the park.
  • Views from the water: Cliffs rise straight out of the sea deep in the fiord, so much of the scenery can be seen from a boat.
  • Weather: Wind and cold can arrive quickly, which matters most for anyone who moves slowly.

Wildlife in Nachvak Fiord

The Torngat Mountains are home to polar bears, black bears, caribou, wolves and foxes, and seals and whales swim along the coast. Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed.

  • On land: Caribou, black bears, Labrador wolves, red and Arctic foxes and polar bears all live in the park.
  • Birds: Peregrine falcons, golden eagles and harlequin ducks are seen in the park.
  • At sea: Ringed, hooded, harp and harbor seals, and whales, are seen along the park's coast.
  • Caribou: The Torngat Mountains caribou herd has declined sharply over recent decades and is now a species at risk.
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