There are provincial parks in British Columbia that get booked out months in advance, and then there's Ningunsaw. Tucked along Highway 37 in the remote northwest of the province, this 39,000-acre backcountry park sees so few visitors that it barely registers on the usual roundups of BC parks. Not because it lacks anything — but because it asks everything of the people who come.

What Ningunsaw offers is raw, self-supported wilderness. Dense forest climbs over mountains, rivers cut through the terrain, and wildlife is everywhere — including grizzly bears. There are no designated trails, no campsites, no parking areas and no facilities of any kind. Camping here means true dispersed forest camping: you carry in everything you need and carry out everything you brought, including firewood, since collecting wood inside the park is prohibited.

The activity list changes with the seasons. In warmer months, anglers can fish the park's rivers and streams with a valid BC fishing licence, and hikers can wander the unmarked backcountry at will. Winter turns the park over to cross-country skiers and hunters. Bordering the whole thing is the Ningunsaw River Ecological Preserve, which you can hike into — but the rules flip there: no fishing, no hunting and no camping, so it pays to know exactly which patch of ground you're standing on.

The solitude is the whole point, and it comes from sheer remoteness. The nearest town is roughly 75 miles away. Access is via Highway 37 — about 133 miles south from Dease Lake, or 65 miles north from Meziadin Junction. A handy bonus along that same highway: Stikine River Provincial Park, home to the so-called "Grand Canyon of the North," sits between Ningunsaw and Dease Lake. The closest commercial airport is Northwest Regional Airport in Terrace (YXT), about 155 miles south of Meziadin Junction.

This is emphatically not a park for first-time campers or anyone who wants a fire pit and an outhouse. It's for experienced backcountry travellers who value quiet over convenience. Bear awareness isn't optional here — this is prime grizzly habitat, so you'll need to bear-proof your camp and know how to react to an encounter before you set out. Come with a proper navigation setup, a solid gear list and a plan for leaving no trace.

If that describes you, Ningunsaw delivers something increasingly rare in a province famous for its outdoors: a genuinely empty wilderness where the forest, rivers and wildlife are the only company you'll keep.

Story via Islands.