Nunavik parks draw local visitors

Two people walk along the shore of the Pingualuit crater, in the centre of the park of the same name. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PARKS NUNAVIK)

As springtime sets in and the days grow longer, Nunavimmiut are spending more time at camps: hunting, fishing and enjoying the land.

Along Hudson Strait, groups usually leave Kangiqsujuaq once a week en route to nearby Pingualuit park. With snow still thick on the ground, snowmobilers can reach the park — and its famed crater — in four or five hours.

But compared to parks elsewhere in Quebec, Nunavik’s three established parks still see a relatively low number of visitors: typically between 80 to 100 each year.

That’s why the Kativik Regional Government has launched a pilot project and contest to draw more Nunavimmiut to Pingualuit and its sister parks, Kuurujuaq, near Kangiqsualujjuaq and Tursujuq, near Umiujaq.

During three weekends this summer, Nunavik residents can apply for discounted weekend packages to each of the three parks, which includes a guide, lodging and transport from the closest community.

“We want people to know the parks,” said Stephanie Rivest, Nunavik Parks’ marketing agent. “We want to create a buzz and really promote these places.”

For three different weekends in July and August, Nunavimmiut can hike the crater at Pingualuit; explore the Qurlutuarjuq falls along the Koroc River or visit the cuestas in Richmond Gulf at Tursujuq.

Selected Nunavimmiut beneficiaries will pay between $200 and 250 for the weekend packages; non-beneficiaries who have lived in Nunavik for at least a year will pay between $300 and 500 for a weekend park visit.

In Nunavik’s newest park, Tursujuq, along the Hudson coast, visitors can apply for a three-day package, where a guide will lead them hiking around Nastapoka falls.

Visitors can also enjoy a cruise along the Richmond Gulf to view its sweeping cuesta land formations.

Tursujuq’s director, Alicia Aragutak said that, at just eight kilometres from the community of Umiujaq, the park is the most accessible in Nunavik — even for people coming from the South.

“You could be in Montreal at 8:00 a.m. and at [Nastapoka] falls by 2:00 p.m.,” she said.

But with this project, Aragutak said she hopes the project will draw Inuit visitors from the park’s neighbouring communities, like Kuujjuaraapik and Inukjuak, to experience the beauty in their own backyards.

More visits to Tursujuq also translate into more work for the community, she added — from local guides to lodging and local artisans.

Nunavik Parks hopes the project will serve as a “teaser” to its park areas for people who haven’t yet considered visiting, and motivate Nunavimmiut to book future visits.

Parks staff will also use the feedback they receive to help gauge interest in parks’ programs and services, and to decide how to design future travel packages.

Nunavik’s first provincial park — called a parc national in Quebec — Pingualuit, opened in 2007, followed by Kuururjuaq and Tursujuq.

And just last month, the government of Quebec announced the creation of a fourth park, set at the base of Pyramid Mountain along the George River.

Nunavik also has a fifth park in the project phase: Baie-aux-Feuilles, which is located between Aupaluk and Tasiujaq.

Nunavimmiut can apply for the weekend trips (details below) from now until May 18. The KRG is accepting one entry per park, which will be drawn May 25.

Nunavimmiut can register by calling 1-855-964-2188 or be emailing parksweekends@krg.ca. For more information about the contest and Nunavik’s parks, visit www.nunavikparks.ca.

The KRG is offering discounted rates to local visitors to three of its provincial parks on nine different weekend throughout the sunmer.