Google Street View Explores Quttinirpaaq in Most Northern Trip Ever

Google wants you to truly feel what it means to be on top of the world.

Google’s Street View has trekked and documented Quttinirpaaq National Park in Nunavut, Canada, the farthest north the company has ever gone with their mapping technology. The Arctic is home to some truly breathtaking scenery, but because it is so remote and hard to access, less than 50 people a year visit the national park. Google wanted to bring this natural beauty to everyone they possibly could.

This initiative by Google Street View is to help create the world’s most comprehensive, accurate and usable map by generating a digital mirror of the real world. This results in an immersive online experience that can bring viewers to locations few have ever travelled in their lives.

Quttinirpaaq National Park is the second largest national park in the country and the northernmost destination in Parks Canada’s network, sitting right at the top of Ellesmere Island. It is home to archeological sites dating back more than 4,500 years when the area was first settled by Paleo-Eskimos. The park is only 800 kilometres from the North Pole, but no elves have popped up on Street View yet.

Take a look through the park to see ocean coastlines, trips up lofty ridges, and even a few glaciers as well. There is an archaeological campsite available to see through Street View as well.

It is worth taking a few minutes to explore the desolate landscapes. Well above the tree line, there is hardly any vegetation or even wildlife. As “Quttinirpaaq” translates into the native Indigenous language, it truly is at the “top of the world.”