Blachford Lodge, Northwest Territories, Canada

Every room and cabin has a pillow top mattress, bamboo sheets and plush duvets, thermostat controlled heat, WiFi and large windows for watching the aurora.

Sunrise Rooms. Three rooms on the second floor of the main lodge facing the lake, each with a private ensuite. Sunrise 1 and Sunrise 2 have a king bed or two twin XL beds and walls of windows; Sunrise 3, the newest, has a queen bed and its own aurora viewing deck.

The log cabins. Old Trapper’s Cabin, where Blachford began in the 1940s; The Point, a favourite with couples for its view down the lake; bright, airy Beaver Cabin by the sauna; and Raven’s Roost and Eagle’s Nest, a pair of cabins under one roof close to the lodge. Each has a king bed or two twin XL beds and a three piece ensuite, one to five minutes’ walk from the lodge.

Photo: Julien Schroder.

Three meals a day. Breads, pastries and desserts are baked in the lodge kitchen, and menus follow the season: Arctic char, lake trout, bison and elk, with summer produce from growers in Yellowknife and richer, slower cooking once winter settles in.

The dining room. Meals are served in the lodge’s dining room above the lake, with coffee, tea, hot chocolate and snacks laid out through the day.

The bar. A fully licensed bar pours cocktails, wine, beer and spirits, by the fire or out on the deck while you wait for the lights.

Every diet. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and dairy free menus, children’s meals and allergies are all prepared for, with halal ingredients sourced on request; your advisor passes your preferences to the kitchen ahead of arrival.

Photo: Jessy Penelon.

The cedar sauna. Hand built on the shore near Beaver Cabin, scented with natural wood and looking over the water. Between rounds, step into the northern air or, for the brave, into the lake itself, in summer and in winter.

The hot tub. Open-air, just outside the lodge’s south entrance, sheltered from the wind and facing the clear southern sky: the favourite place at the lodge to watch the aurora.

Stillness. Yoga, meditation and guided wellness retreats can be arranged for private groups, in the silence of the boreal forest.

Photo: Martina Gebarovska.

Winter and spring. Cross-country ski trails from one to ten kilometres, snowshoeing and winter hikes, kicksledding, skating and ice hockey on the lake, snowmobile tours, ice fishing, fat tire biking, igloo and quinzhee building, winter camping and bonfires.

Summer. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboards on clear water, swimming under the midnight sun, birdwatching, boating, forest trails, and fishing for northern pike and lake trout.

Autumn. Paddling at sunset among the fall colours, hiking and wildlife watching, then the aurora reflected on still water.

Through the year. Guided aurora photography, dream catcher and spruce salve making, and fly-in fishing on remote lakes, as far as Great Slave Lake.

Photo: Samantha Stuart.

The Northern Lights. Some of the most frequent and vivid aurora on earth, with no city glow and a team watching the sky all night.

Families. Igloos and kicksleds, skating on the lake, fishing in the summer and a kitchen that cooks for children and every diet.

Celebrations. Milestone birthdays, proposals, honeymoons and weddings on the lake, and private Christmas and New Year with the whole lodge to yourselves.

Photographers and anglers. Dark skies for aurora and astrophotography, and trophy pike and lake trout in water few have fished.

Photo: Chase Theron.

To Yellowknife. The capital of the Northwest Territories has direct flights from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto, among other Canadian cities.

To the lake. The bush plane leaves in the morning, from the historic Old Town docks on floats in summer and from the airport base on skis in winter, and lands on Blachford Lake twenty five minutes later. Flights run on set arrival days, more often over the festive season, and a private charter can be arranged for other dates.

A night in town. Weather in the North sets its own schedule, so we plan a night in Yellowknife before and after the lodge, with time for the old town, its galleries and Indigenous culture.

Your advisor arranges the flights, the Yellowknife nights and the transfers with the stay.

Photo: Mark Higgins.

Frozen Aurora, January to mid April. Peak aurora season: long dark nights, a frozen lake, snow on the spruce and days around minus twenty to minus thirty degrees Celsius in midwinter, softening in March and April as the light returns.

Midnight Sun, early June to mid August. Nearly twenty hours of daylight, swimming, paddling and the best of the fishing.

Aurora Reflections, mid August to early October. The first dark nights of the year, fall colour, and the aurora mirrored in open water.

Festive, late December to early January. Christmas and New Year at the lodge, or the whole lodge privately for your family, planned well ahead.

Your advisor confirms dates, flight days and the right season for you when you inquire.

Photo: Aaron Von Hagen.