Essential Deh Cho

1. Arts and crafts. Enterprise, Fort Providence, Jean Marie River and Fort Liard are widely recognized for the quality and range of traditional Dene crafts they produce and market. Look for beaded moccasins, unique porcupine quill embroidery, and moosehair tufting embroidery. Fort Liard is famous for its birchbark baskets.
2. Woven fur garments. At Fort Providence, Dene Fur Clouds produces unique and toasty warm fashion accessories. Produced the traditional way, by finger knitting, fabric is created from the inter-looping of strands of fur. Designs include hats and scarves, mittens, blankets and jackets, sold under the Dene Fur Clouds label. www.denefurclouds.com
3. Our ferries. There are three on the Deh Cho Connection, one on the Mackenzie at Fort Providence, one on the Liard at Fort Simpson, and one on the Mackenzie on the way to Wrigley. These are small river ferries carrying up to ten or more vehicles, which connect the sections of highway in open water season. They generally operate from about 8 am to midnight. It is always wise to check ferry operation times in advance to prevent unplanned camping stops. www.dot.gov.nt.ca
4. Ice bridges. From January through March or April, highways cross our northern rivers on ice bridges. These are designed and maintained by highway crews, and checked daily. Winter roads on the other hand, may not be checked daily, and extreme caution and careful preparation for travel is recommended. www.dot.gov.nt.ca
5. The Mackenzie River. The Mackenzie River is the second longest river in North America. The river rises in Great Slave Lake near Fort Providence and flows 1738 kilometres to the Mackenzie Delta and Arctic Ocean. This was Deh Cho (big river) to the Dene who lived along its tributaries. Alexander Mackenzie, a fur trader based in Montreal, explored the river in 1789. Tiny seasonal trading posts were set up as a result, and evolved into the river communities of today. The Mackenzie continues to be a route for trade, with tugs and barges delivering goods to communities not yet accessible by roads.
6. Fishing. Equipped with a Northwest Territories fishing licence, you can fish just about anywhere along the Deh Cho Travel Connection. Trout and pike can be found in our larger rivers and lakes. Pickerel, or walleye, and Arctic grayling favour our rivers and streams. Fishing hotspots include Kakisa and Lady Evelyn Falls Park, Sambaa Deh Territorial Park, Trout Lake, the Liard and Petitot rivers, and Blackstone Park. There are also fish in the Mackenzie River, of course, but visitors might be wise to hire a guide in Fort Providence, Jean Marie River or Fort Simpson to find good fishing spots.
7. Wildlife. Wildlife viewing on our highways is free. Black bear and foxes are common. Wood bison, the larger northern relative of the plains bison are making a comeback near Fort Providence and Fort Liard. You often encounter them on our highways – it is wise to stop and let them cross the road in their own time. They are extremely large and dangerous if provoked. Moose and woodland caribou live in the woods and wetlands all along the highways. Bald eagles and tall, dusty-grey sandhill cranes are two easily spotted species spending the summer in the Deh Cho area, together with ducks, gulls and terns, warblers and other songbirds.
8. Fossils. Our waterfalls tumble over a limestone reef that extends along the route from the Hay River in the east to the Trout River in the west. The limestone was laid down by a huge lake about 400 million years ago. As the limestone erodes, ancient fossils are revealed - corals, molluscs, and trilobites can be spotted by visitors with keen eyes.
9. Our Rivers. Our rivers are powerful and fast flowing, rushing to join the Mackenzie. The Hay River is navigable from the Alberta border to Twin Falls Park. Canoeists can tackle the Kakisa River from the campground as far as the Mackenzie River, with a pull out at Jean Marie River. The Mackenzie is a broad, fairly fast moving river, and canoeists travel downstream from Fort Providence to the Arctic each summer. Canoeists can also try the Petitot River, starting about 40 km south of Fort Liard. The river joins the Liard and is navigable to Fort Simpson. On the way, travelers can stop at Fort Liard, and Nahanni Butte, at the mouth of the South Nahanni River.
10. Hiking. The relatively flat Deh Cho Connection offers some scenic day trips and shorter hikes. For more information on the various trails in the region, check out our Hiking in Dehcho section.