Quttinirpaaq National Park is in the northeastern part of Ellesmere Island, which is in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the second northernmost park in the world, following Northeast Greenland National Park. In the Inuktitut language, Quttinirpaaq means "top of the world." The park was first called Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve when it was created in 1988. In 1999, the name was changed to Quttinirpaaq when Nunavut became a territory. It officially became a national park in 2000. The park covers an area of 37,775 square kilometers (14,585 square miles). This makes it the second largest national park in Canada, after Wood Buffalo National Park. The park is known for its large glaciers and ice caps, dry conditions similar to a desert, and plants and animals that have adapted to live in the extreme cold. Each year, only about 50 people visit the park.

Landscape and weather

The land is covered mostly by rock and ice. It is a polar desert that receives very little rain or snow each year.

Many areas of the park's highlands are covered by ice caps. These ice caps, along with the glaciers that flow from them, formed during the last ice age.

The park includes Barbeau Peak, which is part of the Arctic Cordillera. At 2,616 meters (8,583 feet), it is the tallest mountain in Nunavut.

Located in the high Arctic, the park experiences 24 hours of daylight, called the "midnight sun," from May to August. It also has 24 hours of darkness, known as the "polar night," from November to February. Winters in the park are extremely cold and include some of Canada's lowest recorded temperatures. Summers are short and often have cool weather and conditions similar to winter, although the Lake Hazen area is known for having slightly warmer temperatures.

Wildlife

Some wildlife, such as Arctic hares, lemmings, muskoxen, and Arctic wolves, live in this national park. However, the area has not much plant life and cold temperatures, so only small groups of these animals can survive. A very small number of Peary caribou also live there. Other animals include ringed seals, bearded seals, walruses, polar bears, and narwhals. In the summer, birds such as semipalmated plovers, red knots, gyrfalcons, and long-tailed jaegers nest in the park. Common plants found here are dwarf willow, Arctic willow, Arctic cotton, grasses, and lichens. More plant and animal life is found in the Lake Hazen region because its climate is warmer than the surrounding ice-covered mountains and valleys.

Human history

Because of its location far north and few animals, there has never been many people living in this part of Ellesmere Island. The path from Tanquary Fiord to Lake Hazen has signs that people used it about 5,000 years ago. Tent rings and stored food show that the area was visited by pre-Dorset, Dorset, and Thule people, who are ancestors of today's Inuit.

The east and north parts of the island were used as starting points for many polar expeditions. Fort Conger was an early research base for Arctic explorations. Today, it is kept as a Federal Heritage Building.

Park

Parks Canada operates warden stations and gravel air strips at Tanquary Fiord Airport, Lake Hazen, and Ward Hunt Island. The air strips at Tanquary Fiord and Lake Hazen are the main access points for tourists. There are no other facilities within the park itself beyond these warden stations. Two backpacking routes are available: one between Lake Hazen and Tanquary Fiord, and another that loops around the Ad Astra and Viking ice caps. Both routes are about 100 km (62 miles) long.

In 2004, the park was added to Canada's list of possible World Heritage Sites, along with eight other locations.

In 2019, Canada Post honored the park with a 90-cent postage stamp. This stamp was part of a set of nine regular stamps released on the same day. The series began in 2018.