Nature is the primary attraction of British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands (also known as Haida Gwaii) across the Hecate Strait from the mainland. About 480 mi/775 km northwest of Vancouver, Naikoon Provincial Park on Graham Island is a wildlife reserve with beautiful beaches for whale-watching. The park is home to peregrine falcons and Sitka deer.
The Queen Charlotte Islands are the traditional lands of the Haida Nation, and it's possible to visit abandoned Haida villages such as Skedans, Tanu and Ninstints. The multimillion-dollar Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate features a series of traditional Haida cedar longhouses that showcase traditional art, culture and performance year-round. While you're there, visit the Longhouse Gift Shop for an authentic souvenir in a storefront resembling a small longhouse, or Moon Over Naikoon Bakery, which operates from a repurposed school bus.
If at all possible, take a boat, seaplane or helicopter to South Moresby Island to visit Gwaii Haanas National Park. This preserve teems with enough unusual forms of wildlife that the Queen Charlotte Islands are sometimes known as the Canadian Galapagos. You'll have a good opportunity to see horned puffins, Cassin's auklets (May-August), waterfowl raptors (mid-April to September), gray whales, harbor seals, Steller sea lions (May-July) and many other marine animals. The island also shelters a variety of small and large mammals, including the world's largest black bears. Fittingly, they live in a forest containing some of the world's largest Sitka spruce, western hemlock and red cedar.
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