Most People Have Never Heard Of Yellowknife. It’s One Of The World’s Best Places To See The Northern Lights

Just past midnight, the sled dogs in their outdoor kennel began howling. My aurora-viewing group and I took this as our cue to bundle up and go outside, as “she” was about to shine. Moments later, I spotted the northern lights flickering and dancing across the dark skies above the boreal forest. I balanced my camera on the patio railing, using a long exposure to capture the undulating emerald ribbons tinged with yellow and red.

I had come to Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, to witness the aurora borealis in one of the world’s top viewing destinations. The city calls itself the “Aurora Capital of North America” because of its clear skies and prime location under the auroral oval, a ring-shaped zone where charged sun particles collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere to produce shifting curtains of light.

Weary of record-breaking temperatures and tourist crowds, I was eager to travel to a cooler destination where I could witness the northern lights for the first time. Although my friend Sancho Angulo and I came for the celestial spectacle, we were charmed by Yellowknife’s welcoming residents and cultural adventures, from eating fresh-caught lake fish to exploring museums about life in the Canadian North.

Planning a trip to Yellowknife

When I told my international friends that I was visiting Yellowknife, many had never heard of the city. It’s the capital of the Northwest Territories, an area of roughly 520,000 square miles above Alberta and Saskatchewan that is home to only about 46,000 people. The city lies north of the 60th parallel — a bit south of Reykjavík, Iceland’s latitude — and takes its name from the Yellowknives Dene, known for the copper tools they made.

The “aurora capital” puts on a dazzling show regularly from mid-August through early April, with September, February and March as the prime viewing months. I opted to go in mid-September to avoid the summer’s mosquito swarms and winter’s extreme cold. In the fall, temperatures are a manageable 40 to 50°F, but the trade-off is missing out on snowy activities such as dog sledding, snowmobiling and ice fishing.

Although Yellowknife lies far north of Canada’s major cities, it’s only a few hours away by direct flight from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Whitehorse, with seasonal service from Ottawa and Toronto. I chose a window seat for my two-and-a-half-hour Air North flight from Vancouver to Yellowknife so that I could take in views of the mountain peaks. Upon landing, it was a short taxi ride to the downtown center, where most of the main attractions are within a 15-minute walk.

I recommend staying three to five nights to maximize your chances of seeing the aurora borealis, as “she” can be obscured by cloud cover or rain. Airbnb’s and hotels such as The Explorer Hotel and Chateau Nova sell out quickly during peak seasons, but Yellowknife is currently developing new and more upscale accommodations to meet the growing tourism demand.

Aurora-Maxxing Activities

To optimize our chances of seeing the northern lights, Sancho and I joined two aurora tours. We napped in the afternoon to save energy for the late-night experiences, which take place from around 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. On the first night, Bucket List Tour picked us up from our guesthouse and drove us and about 20 others to a “cozy cabin” about 15 minutes outside of Yellowknife. While waiting for the green lights to peek out, we tried on vintage fur coats and hats and ate several helpings of fish chowder and fresh-baked bannock (an Indigenous bread similar to a biscuit or scone).

(La Carmina)

Everyone felt right at home thanks to Tracy Therrien, the friendly owner of Bucket List Tour who has lived in the Northwest Territories since 1988. She built the rustic cabin as a space for guests to connect and get immersed in local traditions in case the aurora was fickle that night. “When we have bad weather, I want our guests to still take away warm memories,” she said. “They have spent a lot of money and traveled a long way, so we work hard to create a good experience for them.”

As soon as Sancho and I saw the northern lights glimmer on AuroraMax’s live feed, we hurried outside to look for ourselves. The staff helped us take Instagram-worthy photos beneath the glowing green skies dotted with bright stars. After a while, “she” hid under the clouds, so we returned to the cabin to warm up and chat with guests from Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Taipei. In recent years, Tracy has seen a significant rise in international tourism, especially from Asia. “We have had many famous Koreans visit our cabin, most recently K-pop stars Monsta X and Mamamoo, and Olympic figure skating champion Yuna Kim,” she said.

The next night, we joined a viewing with the Indigenous-owned and family-run North of 60 Aurora Adventures. Their shuttle took us to a space-like Skydome with a wood-burning fireplace, which warmed the room and heated up a kettle for hot chocolate and tea served with trays of snacks. Our small group ventured out to the veranda when we heard the resident sled dogs yelp, signaling that the northern lights were about to shimmer. I alternated between snapping photos and tracking the rippling glow with my naked eye, marveling at nature’s ability to put on such a spectacular show.

Dining and chilling in Yellowknife

During the day, Sancho and I walked around the territorial capital, home to just over 20,000 residents who have developed a lively social and creative scene to combat long, dark winters. Our favorite meal was the pan-fried and grilled fish at Bullock’s Bistro. The quirky log building serves the catch of the day from Yellowknife’s Great Slave Lake: lake trout, whitefish, pickerel, Arctic char or inconnu (coney), depending on the season. We also enjoyed Wildcat Cafe (open from late spring to early fall), which makes homestyle dishes like hunter’s pie with locally sourced bison and trout, paired with cocktails infused with birch.

For views of the vast, clear lake and Old Town, we walked up a rocky hill to the Bush Pilots Monument, which honors the brave early 20th-century pilots who helped settle Canada’s subarctic. Sancho and I dove deeper into the region’s history at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, where I was delighted to see how Indigenous people made toasty pants out of polar bear fur and beautifully embroidered yet waterproof accessories out of sealskin and moosehide.

(La Carmina)

On our last day, we joined a free tour of the Legislative Assembly to learn about the territory’s consensus-style government. Our guide took us into a circular Chamber decorated with a growling polar bear rug, where elected representatives meet and debate in English, French and nine Indigenous languages. Finally, to commemorate our first time in the Canadian North, we shopped for bold Kinngait (Cape Dorset) Inuit prints of animals and daily life at the Gallery on 47th Street. We also browsed quirky souvenirs marked with “Ragged Ass Road”—a name given in jest to a residential street in the 1970s that turned into a local landmark.

Sancho and I had traveled to Canada’s Northwest Territories to see the northern lights but left with a deeper appreciation for the heartfelt warmth of its people and culture. “The world has finally learned of Yellowknife, so I only see our city continuing to grow,” Tracy predicted. But as Sancho put it, chasing the northern lights goes beyond crossing off a bucket-list experience. “It’s not every day you encounter the sublime. That’s the closest I can come to describing what it was like to watch the auroras dance,” he said. “It makes you feel small, yet so intimately connected to everything.”