The Best Things to Do in Haida Gwaii, A Haven for a Gentle Reset

As a child, Lesley Assu would lie on one of Haida Gwaii’s countless beaches, watching the night sky shimmer above the archipelago’s 200-plus islands. “There was always this feeling that the moon was bigger, brighter… ” Closer to Alaska than Vancouver, roughly 100 kilometres off British Columbia’s north coast, this remote corner of Canada is shaped by isolation. Black bears roam the riverbanks and forests flash every shade of green. The landscape shifts between alpine ridge lines, ancient rainforest and stretches of white sand.

Today, Assu, a member of the Haida Nation, manages Haida House at Tllaal, a lodge with 10 rooms and 12 private cabins set between a quiet beach and the Tlell River on Graham Island’s east coast. “The river runs behind us, the beach goes on forever in front and, most days, you’ll have it all to yourself,” says Assu.

Naturalist Rogier Gruys, who once managed the visitor program for Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve – the vast protected expanse at the southern end of the archipelago – says the islands were “shaped by what’s missing”: many of the predators that live on the mainland. There are no predators here and having avoided glacial wipe-out in the last Ice Age, the region has evolved in seclusion.

Some 5000 people live on Haida Gwaii, which has been stewarded by the Haida Nation since time immemorial. In 2024, the Haida received legal title for their unceded land and visitors are now asked to sign the Haida Gwaii Pledge, a promise to tread lightly and travel thoughtfully across this spiritual land. Haida Gwaii Watchmen – cultural guardians who welcome visitors and protect sacred sites – share their stories at ancient village locations in the national park. Once there, you might be treated to crab plucked by hand from nearby waters at Haida House (below) at Tllaal or dishes with BC wines at Gather, a tiny spot known for its use of fresh local ingredients.

Ocean House, the newly opened sister property of Haida House at Tllaal, sits on the shore of Masset Inlet. Once a fly-in sport-fishing lodge that operated with little benefit to locals, it’s now a Haida-owned 20-room boutique hotel, focused on both comfort and a renewed sense of place.

Beyond the food and landscape, it’s the stillness that really stays with you. “Even with the insects and the wind in the trees, there’s this silence here,” says Assu. “Not emptiness, just a kind of peacefulness… you can recharge yourself from that energy.”