Big River Travel Guide

covers the country stretching north from Alberta to the south shore of the Great Slave Lake, and embraces several rivers, including large parts of the Mackenzie and Slave watersheds, and several of the territories' most accessible towns. Hay River , near the head of the Mackenzie Hwy from Alberta, is the area's hub and provides a gateway both to the Great Slave Lake , the third largest in North America, and to Fort Smith and the upper reaches of the mainly Albertan Wood Buffalo National Park. Unless you're headed for the park, however, or are prepared to drive east to Fort Resolution to see one of the most southerly examples of living Dene culture, most of this region and its seemingly limitless ridges of boreal forest is not the most rewarding zone of the north for scenery. However, if you do want to explore, it's relatively easy to get around under your own steam: Greyhound buses run daily except Saturday to Hay River - contact the Greyhound office in Hay River on tel 874-6966 or 1-800/661-8747. Here they connect three times weekly with Frontier Coachlines, 16 102nd St (tel 874-2566, fax 874-2388), which runs buses to Fort Providence, Yellowknife and connections to Fort Smith.