CityBest Late August – early April for the aurora

Yellowknife

A gold-rush capital on Great Slave Lake, 400 km south of the Arctic Circle, that turned to the aurora as the mines closed.

Yellowknife was founded in 1934, after gold was found, and became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. It sits on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, about 400 km south of the Arctic Circle, and takes its name from the Yellowknives Dene, whose communities of Ndilǫ and Dettah adjoin the city.

As gold production fell, tourism grew, and many visitors now come for the aurora and nothing else. In winter an ice road crosses an arm of the lake to Dettah.

Northern lights at Yellowknife, March 2018

Photo: raymond22112376, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Where to stay in Yellowknife

Stays shown via Stay22 — booking through the map supports the log.

Part of

Northern lights

The Best Places to See the Northern Lights

Seven places under the auroral oval, with the honest odds: far enough north, dark enough, and — the hard part — clear enough.