Churchill Manitoba

Train Station Greeting

One of the best places to see Polar Bears in the wild is Churchill Manitoba Canada. Churchill is one of the lowest latitudes that polar bears congregate in early November each year before leaving the land to spend the winter hunting for ringneck seals on the ice.

Churchill is a small town around 900 hundred people in 2016. Tourism is one of the main sources of income. With Polar Bear viewing in November, Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis during February, Beluga Whales in summer as well as birding and wildflower tours.

You can get to Churchill which is located on the Hudson Bay in Northern Manitoba by air or train. The train ride from Winnepeg will take two to three days depending on the freight trains using the same tracks. The flight from Winnepeg can be very expensive and is currently run by Calm Air or  Air North. You just might be on a plane that has cargo since this is one of the ways supplies can get to the northern communities when there is no water access.

The town of Churchill has several stores for souvenirs, a grocery store, a few places to stay and a variety of restaurants. The hospital, recreation center, library, and school are all connected at one end of town parallel to the Hudson Bay.

Rocket launch 1965

We stayed at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre https://churchillscience.ca/. This area was once used by the U.S. Army as a sounding rocket test station. The Army left Churchill in 1970 and the  Canadian National Research Council to support the Canadian Upper Atmosphere Research Program during the '70s and '80s but was deserted by 1985.

Churchill Northern Studies Centre New Building

We spent a week at the center learning about the polar bears, climate change, local vegetation, and landscape.

Hudson Bay before the ice

Cross Fox

The Arctic Fox use to be the only fox in the area. With the Red Fox moving into the area there is now a black fox with to white tip tail from cross-breeding of the Arctic and Red Fox.

Tree Island

Our main goal was to see Polar Bears so we spent two days traveling in Tundra Buggies in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. We were not disappointed as we saw numerous large male bears waiting for the ice to form so they could get out on the ice to hunt for ringneck seals their primary food source. For these bears, it has been a long time since they ate their last seal when the ice disappears in June on the Hudson Bay. Here are a few pictures that we took of the bears.

Who is Stronger?

We also had a dog sledding ride. This experience gave us an idea of what it would be like to travel this way. The experience was only a mile long but that was cold enough for most of our group.

The last experience was the 45-minute helicopter ride over the Hudson Bay rugged coastline. Everyone has a window seat during the helicopter ride with groups being no longer than four people.

Ice Forming on the Hudson Bay

If you plan on going you need to book early. We booked in early January the year we wanted to go in November. We also booked our flight as soon as possible. If you wait the price goes up and there is limited space so you may need to take the train. We heard that the train was an interesting experience but we wanted to get there faster. The train also only runs on certain days so you might have to book an extra night in town at a hotel or B&B.  Here is the current website for the tour we took.

https://churchillscience.ca/event/lords-of-the-arctic-i/

This was definitely a wonderful experience that I would not have wanted to miss. If you plan to fly in and out in a day you take your chances with the weather and polar bear sightings might be limited. Some tours only take you around town and along the road system not out onto the tundra in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. The Churchill Wildlife Management Area is not Wapusk National Park which is farther away from town.