Salt places to visit · Near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories
Salt Plains of Wood Buffalo National Park
More than 200 square kilometres of salt flats and salt mounds in Canada's largest national park, where Dene people gathered salt long before the fur trade and still do today.
At a glance
| Where | Wood Buffalo National Park, off Highway 5, Near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories |
|---|---|
| Type of place | Salt plain in a national park |
| What you'll see | White salt crust, salt mounds up to 2 metres high, salt-tolerant plants, and bison that come to lick the salt. |
| Getting there | From the Salt Plains Viewpoint at the top of the escarpment, the Salt Plains Access Trail drops 350 metres (700 metres return, moderate) to the plains. Parks Canada suggests walking barefoot among the salt mounds. |
| Before you go | Trails can close for wildfire recovery. Check Parks Canada's Wood Buffalo bulletins for current conditions. |
| Gathering salt | Parks Canada says Indigenous people may gather salt here for personal use, which is common; commercial harvesting is not permitted. Other visitors should leave the salt where it is. |
Plan your visit: official information
The salt story
Dene traders told the Hudson's Bay Company about salt near the Slave River, and it appears on a company map of 1760, the earliest recorded salt source in the Canadian West. Alexander Mackenzie mapped the “Salt Springs” and wrote that “when the Indians pass that way they bring a small quantity to the fort.” In 1791 Philip Turnor recorded Indigenous traders bringing salt to Lake Athabasca in large quantities. The fur traders used it to salt geese, and in the 1840s the HBC handed the Salt River deposits to the Métis leader François Beaulieu. In 2022, Parks Canada sent a warning letter to Melissa Daniels, an Athabasca Chipewyan woman from Fort Smith who uses the salt in her skincare business. After public criticism, Parks Canada expressed regret and referred the question to the park's co-operative management committee, which includes 11 Indigenous governments.
Hours, seasons and prices change. Check with the site before you travel.
More salt places
Cite this page
For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.
The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). Salt plains of wood buffalo national park. https://saltalmanac.com/places/wood-buffalo-salt-plains
“Salt Plains of Wood Buffalo National Park | Salt Places to Visit.” The Salt Almanac, 8 Nov. 2026, saltalmanac.com/places/wood-buffalo-salt-plains. Accessed [today's date].
“Salt Plains of Wood Buffalo National Park | Salt Places to Visit.” The Salt Almanac. Last modified November 8, 2026. https://saltalmanac.com/places/wood-buffalo-salt-plains.
Original sources
- Canada's History. The Quickening Flavour: salt in the fur trade. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/fur-trade/the-quickening-flavour
- Parks Canada. Wood Buffalo National Park: hiking. https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/activ/randonnee-hiking
- Spectacular NWT. The Salt Plains. https://spectacularnwt.com/attractions/the-salt-plains/
- Cabin Radio. Fort Smith woman seeks apology for Parks Canada salt warning (2022). https://cabinradio.ca/90030/news/south-slave/fort-smith-woman-seeks-apology-for-parks-canada-salt-warning
- Wikipedia. Salt River (Canada). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_River_(Canada)