Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park, spanning the border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in the country. It protects a large swath of the Northern Boreal Plains ecosystem, the largest herds of wood bison in the world, vital whooping crane habitat, and much more. But perhaps its most unique feature is located deep in the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
At almost 800 meters (~2624 feet) long from end-to-end, the world’s largest beaver dam blocks run-off water from the Birch Mountains in the southernmost end of the park. The front of the damn runs around 775 meters (2,542 feet) in length and its entire perimeter is almost 2000 meters (~6561 feet). In total, the damn has a surface area of around 70,000 square meters (~753473 feet). It’s so big that it’s visible from satellite imagery taken from space.
It’s seriously impressive, but it’s also incredibly difficult to access. Reaching the dam in person would require a multi-day trek through tough landscape like wetlands, muskeg and thick boreal forest. That or you’d have to charter an airplane for a private sightseeing tour.
