Polar Bear Alley's first wildlife tour trade show was back in 2006... and people responded with confusion and shock to a 'walk with polar bears' brochure...why would anyone want to do that??!! Isn't that dangerous??!!! Luckily twenty years later, the world has changed and there seem to be quite a lot of photographers ready to 'walk' with these lords of the arctic.
Churchill is a unique place - and it is the best place in the world to photograph polar bears at eye-level. The variety of bears - from moms and cubs to sparring buddies to roguish juveniles - is unparalleled. The variety of backdrops will amaze you even more than our repetoire of northern humour. From high arctic bedrock and rugged tundra landscapes to crooked trees and crashed planes... sunrises and sunsets, backlit, sidelit, ultra closeups to wide landscapes - we even have a polar bear library if you're lucky enough to catch a bear checking out their favourite book!! Churchill is the place to be. End of story.
Each group tour is led by experienced guides - each bringing a unique set of tracking and wilderness skills to the group. We operate on modified 4x4 vehicles - Ford Broncos or full-size F150 trucks with ample room. Each client has their own window for shooting or we can all be on the ground with the highest guide to client ratio (3:1) in the industry. We are confident and comforable around the bears and make sure that their safety and well-being (and ours) is the number on priority.
Polar Bear Alley founder and long-time polar bear tracker Kelsey Eliasson works as a scout searching out the best polar bear encounters and keeping the group one step ahead of the game... A unique advantage in the polar bears of Churchill tour industry!!
Ground-based tours in peak polar bear season - October to November. Close encounters with up to 25 bears a day.
Enjoy the relaxed pace of summer (if you ignore the mosquitoes) and get up close and personal with bears as they return from the sea ice. Then add the thousands of Beluga whales that will swim right next to our zodiac.
Churchill is the best place in the world to watch the northern lights. Sign up for our nightly watch list and join an evening trip to witness the skies dance.
In town for a short time? This day trip combines polar bear viewing and local lore for an edge of the arctic teaser.
Each year, polar bears return to the coast of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Canada—the Polar Bear Capital of the World. From July to November, these remarkable animals spend much of their time on land, giving visitors a rare opportunity to observe their natural behavior.
In the summer, as the ice breaks up, polar bears swim ashore and are often seen near fields of blooming purple fireweed and the cool waters of Hudson Bay, which are also filled with curious and social belugas swimming by the boats. By fall, Bears shift their focus to hunting, using the newly forming ice as a platform to stalk seals. As winter approaches and the ice builds along the coast, polar bears gather in large numbers, making this location an ideal spot to witness close interactions between mothers and cubs.
Polar Bears have been a part of life in Churchill since, well, forever… From indigenous oral history to the first Hudson’s Bay trading post in the 1700s, the bears have been here – this is their territory and we respect that. But, Churchill itself is still a frontier town – a rare breed on this planet – a place where people are authentic and the stories are mostly true. Our local guides are willing to share local legends along the way… from shipwrecks, to aliens to atomic bombs – you’ll see that Churchill is more than bears!!
If you love wildlife and wild places, then we have the email newsletter you’ve been waiting for. In each issue, Polar Bear Alley curate a selection of stories, images, and videos from the wild to inject a little wonder into your day to leave you feeling good about this beautiful planet.
