The Hood is a very scenic river flowing through the barrenlands of the central Canadian Arctic. A river of many rapids and waterfalls, the Hood flows through glacial deposits of sand and gravel, over igneous intrusions that form many of the river's falls, and over the Bathurst Fault zone, creating spectacular Wilberforce Falls. Wilberforce drops in two sections for a total of 52 meters. The river starts in a series of long, narrow headwater lakes and flows into the Arctic Ocean at Arctic Sound of Bathurst Inlet. Wildlife veiwing is great along the river, with caribou, grizzlies, muskoxen, wolves, red fox, and raptors all making use of the riparian corridor in summer. The rapids can be challenging and the water level fluctuates quite a bit over the summer. Low water can mean a rocky ride in canoes!

The Hood has been the focus of some recent research on the lichens and biodiversity of the area. There are also some recent moves towards mining along the river and Echo Bay Mines is putting in a winter road to haul ore to their Lupin Mine on Contwoyto Lake. The Hood has never been accessable by road before so this is a new activity and let's hope the land, water, history, people, and wildlife are not adversely affected.

Color IR image of the Hood River region.

Changing colors of the tundra vegatation along the Hood River.

Burnside River | Coppermine River | Hanbury River | Hood River | Mara River | Thelon River | Thomsen River | Yellowknife River