Google Street View gives rare glimpse into Nunavut park

Friday, October 13, 2017, 2:20 PM - Most people will never visit Nunavut's Quttinirpaaq National Park.

The remote landscape only sees about four dozen visitors annually. Weather can make the area inaccessible and the trek isn't cheap: Once a year, Parks Canada offers chartered flights to the park at a cost of $7,500 per person.

While a real life visit may not be in the cards, you can experience the park's spectacular landscapes virtually, thanks to Google.

On Thursday Quttinirpaaq National Park went live on Google Street View. It's currently the northernmost virtual destination offered by the technology. 

The footage was captured with the help of Emma Upton, manager of Quttinirpaaq National Park, and a colleague who hauled Google's 23-kilogram Trekker backpack camera across 30 kilometres of terrain for five days gathering footage.

You'll be able to catch a glimpse of the Air Force Glacier, which towers nearly 8 storeys into the sky.

"You're getting intimate with a massive glacial ice cap, you're on the edge of the glacier, the geology is phenomenal, and it just gives you a sense of the expanse of the park," Upton told CBC News.

"The footage gives you a sense of being in the place and I think that's an incredible opportunity for people to experience because it is a place that is hard to get to."

Sources: Google Street View | CBC