Coppermine River

Travel through a remote region of the world on the Coppermine River with an America Outdoors outfitter, who provide rafting, canoeing, camping, hiking and fishing trips.

From its headwaters at Lac de Gras, the Coppermine River flows swiftly down to its mouth at the Coronation Gulf of the Arctic Ocean. On its northern route, the river descends through a variety of land forms. The river begins in the stark Arctic tundra, passing through the dense spruce forests in the Redrock and Rocknest Lakes region and ends up descending through the low lying mountain ranges and rolling hills of the barren lands. The river offers a combination of flat water and challenging big water rapids.

History

The Inuit of the Coppermine region often used the river as a route to the caribou hunting grounds. The Dene from Rae and Yellowknife area also used the southern regions of the river for hunting. Ample reminders of the human history of the area are provided at old sites such as camps, graves and cabins. Samuel Hearne is credited with being the first European explorer to travel to the mouth of the Coppermine. In 1771, he reached the Arctic Ocean with the help of his Chipewyan guide, Motonabbee, and a party of Indians from northern Manitoba. In truth, Hearne did not travel along much of the Coppermine system. Instead, he travelled overland from Fort Churchill in Manitoba and joined the river at Sandstone Rapids, only 64 kilometres (40 miles) from its mouth. As they headed downstream, they came upon an Inuit family camped along the river. The Inuit were traditional enemies of the Chipewyan and under Matonabbee's direction, they massacred the entire Eskimo group as they slept. Hearne named the rapids at this place 'Bloody Falls'.

Fifty years later, John Franklin left Old Fort Providence, guided by the Indian chief, Akaitcho, and set out for the Arctic coastline. With his crew of French Canadians and English officers - Dr. John Richardson, Midshipmen George Black and Robert Hood - he explored the entire length of the Coppermine by canoe, arriving at the mouth of the river in late July.

After exploring the Arctic coast as far east as Bathurst Inlet, Franklin returned overland to Fort Enterprise - a horrendous journey marked by murder, starvation and cannibalism during which half his party died. Despite his tragic conclusion to the expedition, Franklin succeeded in exploring a large region of the arctic and became the first white man to canoe the Coppermine River.

Although many parties have travelled the river in the 176 years since Sir John Franklin made his trip, little has changed in those intervening years. The adventurer of today experiences the land much as Hearne, Franklin and the native people did almost two centuries ago.

Geography

The Coppermine flows through a series of changing physiographic regions on its route to the Arctic. The lake portions at the upper part of the river are located in the barrens, dominated by rocky hillsides and boulder filled lake and river beds. As the river moves north, these rock and boulder shorelines alternate between eroded sand and clay embankments and low marshy flood plains. For the most part, the river forms a corridor of lush vegetation dominated by stands of stunted spruce. Beyond the river valley, the spectacular barren hills reach an elevation of 710 meters (2130 ft) above sea level. Eroded cliff banks of sand and clay are found where the White Sand River flows into the Coppermine river. Big Bend marks another transition point where the terrain becomes rockier, with gravelly shores giving way to steep cliffs of sandstone. The September and Coppermine Mountains near Big Bend display impressive barren slopes scattered with low shrubs and rock outcrops. The red sandstone cliffs of Muskox and Sandstone rapids change to white as Escape Rapids appear. Beyond Bloody Falls near its mouth at the Coronation Gulf, the river flows through the sediments of an earlier delta.

Quantities of native copper were found by Franklin along the river and in the area near the Coppermine Mountains, but no efforts have been made to exploit the resource. The greenish coloured nodules can still be found in places along the river.

Flora

Although most of the river system flows through the tundra, the river valley itself is an oasis of lush vegetation. Downstream from Muskox Rapids, the stunted spruce stands give way to scrub willow and birch. Typical barren land vegetation includes cotton, grass, sedges, cranberries and wheatgrass. Wild flowers such as mountain aven, lupin and saxifrage add impressive colour to the arctic landscape.

Wildlife

The lush valley of the Coppermine contains a variety of barren ground wildlife. Caribou, moose, wolf, musk oxen, arctic fox and grizzly bears frequent the shores of the lakes and river valley. Tundra swans and geese nest in the valley and the steep rock cliffs provide excellent nesting sites for raptors such as golden eagles, peregrine and gyrfalcons. Lake trout, grayling and northern pike are plentiful along the entire river and Arctic Char can be found downstream of the Big Bend.