Canada's first grizzly bear sanctuary, protecting old-growth Sitka spruce along British Columbia's North Coast.
Khutzeymateen Provincial Park
Khutzeymateen Provincial Park is a wilderness protected area on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, established in 1994 to conserve one of the most important grizzly bear habitats in the country. The park sits at the head of Khutzeymateen Inlet, northeast of Prince Rupert, within the rugged Kitimat Ranges, and combines steep coastal mountains with a deeply sheltered river estuary. Beyond its significance for bears, the sanctuary preserves what is considered the largest contiguous stand of old-growth Sitka spruce remaining on Earth, giving the area a unique combination of coastal temperate rainforest and salmon-rich estuary ecosystems.
The park was created with the active involvement of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, then president of the World Wildlife Fund, working alongside the Lax-kw'alaams First Nation and wildlife biologists who had campaigned for protection after the valley had initially been slated for logging. It is widely recognized as the first protected area in Canada established specifically to safeguard grizzly bears and their habitat, a designation that has shaped both its conservation role and its highly restricted visitor access.
Today, Khutzeymateen remains a strictly controlled wilderness sanctuary rather than a conventional recreational park. Boat access is mandatory, all visitors must check in at the K'tzim-a-deen Ranger Station, and shore access is prohibited; only guided estuary tours and limited wildlife viewing from the inlet are permitted. This tightly managed access reflects the park's core mission: to allow grizzlies, old-growth forests, and coastal ecosystems to function with minimal human disturbance.
