Fort Chipewyan

Fort Chipewyan is one of the oldest European settlements in Alberta. It was established in 1788 as a Northwest Company trading post. Most locals are native Cree or Chipewyan.

By plane

• McMurray Aviation

  phone: +1 780-791-2182
  address: Fort McMurray
  Four flights daily from Fort McMurray.

• Northwestern Air

  phone: +1 867 872-2216
  address: Fort Smith
  Three flights weekly from Fort Smith (NWT), three flights weekly from Edmonton via Fort McMurray.

By car

Travel overland to Fort Chipewyan is only possibly via seasonal ice roads which cross a pair of frozen rivers in winter. A Fort Chipewyan Winter Road hotline at +1-866-743-6111 provides road information.
There is one fuel station between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan (a Petro-Canada in Fort McKay's industrial park) and virtually no services.
When crossing ice bridges (river crossings), go the speed limit! If you go too fast, you may create an underwater wave which can travel ahead of you and break the ice once it reaches the other shore.

By boat

It is possible to reach Fort Chipewyan from Fort McKay in summer by boating the Athabasca River; the Slave River leads from Fort Chipewyan to Wood Buffalo National Park and Fort Smith, NWT.

• Fox Taxi

  phone: +1 780-697-2352
  address: 105 Lepine Av

• Sun Taxi

  phone: +1 587-601-0496
  address: 140 MacKenzie King Rd

• Tuccaros Taxi Service

  phone: +1 780-697-3400
  address: 112 Adam St

• Fort Chipewyan Bicentennial Museum

  phone: +1 780-697-3844
  address: 109 Mackenzie Ave
  A replica of the Hudson's Bay Store created by the Fort Chipewyan Historical Society to commemorate the post's 1988 bicentennial.

• Egg Island Ecological Reserve

  phone: +1 780-743-7437
  Small ecological reserve established on Lake Athabasca to protect a major breeding colony of Caspian terns, a "vulnerable species".

• Old Fort PointThe site of the first Fort Chipewyan established in 1788 by Roderick Mackenzie, southeast of Fort Chipewyan. It is designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Historic places in the community include the site of the third Fort Chipewyan established in 1803, the Anglican Church built in 1880 and Day School built in 1874, and the Roman Catholic Mission Church built in 1909.

• Visit Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest national park of Canada, which is about the size of Denmark. It is home to the world's largest herd of free roaming wood bison, estimated at more than 5,000. It is one of two known nesting sites of whooping cranes. Access to the park from fort Chp is via the winter road, or by motorboat or canoe in summer.

Events

• Fort Chipewyan Winter CarnivalLate February; jigging, trap-setting, snowmobile racing, and moose calling.

• Northern Store

  phone: +1 780-697-3687
  Come and marvel at the prices in this grocery store $10 for four tomatoes, seedless grapes for $13 -- and see why high food prices are an issue in northern communities.

• Chips Family Restaurant

  phone: +1 780-697-0233
  address: 108 Flett St

• Miss Mah's

  address: 164-188 MacKenzie Ave

• Athabasca Cafe & Dining LoungePub & bar.

• Lily on Wylie Bed & Breakfast

  phone: +1 780-697-3010
  address: 116 Wylie Ave

• Johnny Michaels B & B

  phone: +1 780-697-3947
  address: 210 Evans Cres

• Wah Pun Bed & Breakfast

  phone: +1 780-697-3030

• Willie’s B&B

  phone: +1 780-215-4369
  address: 118 McDonald St

• Dene/Cree Hotel

  phone: +1 780-697-6000

• Wood Buffalo National Park is at the northern edge of Alberta; access is from Fort Chip or from Fort Smith (NWT).