Ontario’s largest park is home to polar bears & visiting is nearly impossible

Ontario’s largest provincial park is not only home to hundreds of wildlife including polar bears, caribou, and moose, but it’s also completely void of human life. Curious? Here’s what to know about Polar Bear Provincial Park.

This non-operating park is difficult, almost impossible to visit and it’s only accessible by air. According to Ontario Parks, the area features unspoiled low-lying tundra with sub-arctic conditions.

About 8,000 years ago, it was covered in glacial ice, and a huge freshwater sea. It is fully inhabited by animals like marten, fox, beaver, goose, black bear, and polar bears.

As previously mentioned, this park is barren – only animals coexist here. There are no visitors’ facilities, no camping sites, nothing, only except for an abandoned radar station, part of a former military defence line.

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According to Ontario Parks, the only signs of human interaction are squat metal buildings, oil tanks, radio towers, a few radar dishes, and a landing airstrip.

And like we said before, the only way to actually reach the park is by plane. However, a landing permit must be obtained before landing on one of the airstrips.

If by ANY chance visitors are able to visit the park, Ontario Parks suggests they bring “at least one week’s extra supplies in case their departure is delayed due to bad weather. Tents should not rise any higher than necessary, due to the possibility of strong winds.”

Per Ontario Parks, this land is considered the most “temperately located mainland tundra in the world.”

Though you may never actually visit this park in your lifetime, it’s still cool to know it exists!

Polar Bear Provincial Park

Where: On the western shore of Hudson Bay, above James Bay, in the far northern area of the province.