Viewing the Churchill, Manitoba Northern Lights: A True Canadian Bucket-List Winter Expedition

Churchill, Manitoba is one distinct region of three in Canada famous for offering incredible sights of the aurora borealis. Carol Patterson shares her experience seeing the Northern Lights with Frontiers North Adventures, and offers insights into how travellers can view them, too.

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Pink and green aurora. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

Some say Northern Lights make noise. I was learning they do, but in unexpected ways. Laughter rang out across the frozen river as adults weathered by life’s big responsibilities frolicked like children under rippling waves of auroral lights. Snow crunched under heavy boots as people set up tripods or walked around with heads bent backwards. With experts predicting an 11-year solar storm cycle to peak sometime in 2024 and generating more Northern Lights, I went north to see what was causing such excitement among sky watchers.

Canada is lucky to have at least three established Northern Lights viewing destinations (Whitehorse, Yellowknife & Churchill), but Churchill feels different. Maybe it’s the thought that you could be standing where a beluga swam or a polar bear walked months earlier. Maybe it’s the small-town feel–less than 1,000 people live here–or maybe it’s the reliably clear skies. 

At 58 degrees north latitude, Churchill is under the aurora oval–an area close to the earth’s magnetic poles with a higher chance of seeing Northern Lights–and the Hudson Bay freezes in November. With little open water in February and March, there’s almost no condensation and fewer clouds. I headed north with Frontiers North Adventures on their inaugural charter flight from Calgary to Churchill for two nights of northern lights viewing.

After a day touring Churchill’s many murals and the Parks Canada Visitor Centre, our first night had revealed some auroral activity but we were eager to see more.

Heading Out on the Tundra Buggy

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All aboard the Tundra Buggy. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

I boarded a EV Tundra Buggy® before sunset to trundle across the frozen Churchill River to Dan’s Diner. This restaurant is in a specially constructed Tundra Buggy, overseen by the uber talented chef Connor MacAulay who sprinted between plating dinners and restarting the facility’s generator. Parked on the river’s edge, we watched the sun sink behind the boreal forest while we savoured, slurped and sighed over a multi-course meal. After a late night the previous day, people–once fed–were starting to fade when the Northern Lights failed to appear.

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Dan’s Diner, located in a Tundra Buggy. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

I stepped outside on the back deck of the Tundra Buggy to keep myself awake. The stars twinkled over the frozen river and the wind hurried over spruce trees and whistled through the vehicle’s communication antenna. It was almost midnight, and my feet felt the chill of -25 C. It was tempting to curl up inside. But it was my last night searching for aurora and I wanted to give it my best shot.

Our guide had explained earlier that the Northern Lights often appear around midnight, or later. People in Churchill also claim the Northern Lights make an appearance 300 nights a year. I feared I might be visiting on one of the 65 when they don’t reveal themselves, when someone suddenly exclaimed, “They’re here! Behind the buggy!”

Seeing the Churchill Northern Lights

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Tundra Buggy under the auroras. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

I picked my way carefully down the steep, metal steps that were lowered like a drawbridge to the frozen terrain and looked up. Drifting across the sky was a faint cloud. But when I took a quick iPhone photo, the greens of aurora borealis were revealed. Northern Lights are created by flares from the sun and their colours aren’t always visible to the human eye. But a camera lens kept open longer than the blink of a human eye gathers the light for a richer colour.

Soon the lights deepened in colour, making them easily visible and they moved quickly. As soon as one ribbon of light appeared, it spread like butter melting on a frying pan. They curled and climbed into the sky, sometimes revealing deep greens or pale pinks, other times fading into a pale lime hue. A row of light pillars appeared above my head. I’d seen Northern Lights before from southern locations, but they were on the horizon. In Churchill, under the auroral oval, the lights were directly overhead and stretched from one horizon to the other.

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Auroras above a winter tent. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

Some people laid on the ground for a better view, others oohed and awed when pink and purple appeared. For more than two hours the aurora borealis danced across the sky. The lights didn’t seem to repeat in shape or speed and a carpet of stars shone through the colours.

Earlier in the day I’d visited the Itsanitaq Museum for an interpretative talk on local lore related to Northern Lights. Some myths said that you could call the lights down closer by snapping your fingers or whistling, but you had to be careful not to call them too close or you could be decapitated by the lights!

It seemed a fanciful story under the artificial light of the museum gallery. Standing out on the land where polar bears roamed months earlier, the connection I felt to nature and the people who have cared for this place for generations had me respecting their admonishments. I sighed, not whistled, as more lights appeared, and I kept my hands in my pockets. I may have lost my head over the colourful display, but I wanted to keep it to a figurative loss. And yes, a peak year in a solar storm cycle is worth travelling north for.

What Causes Northern Lights?

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Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

Solar storms on the sun emit clouds of electrically charged particles at high speed. When they collide with atoms and molecules in the earth’s magnetic field, the result is colourful curtains of lights known as aurora.

They are visible near both poles; the ones seen in Churchill are called aurora borealis or Northern Lights, in the southern hemisphere they are known as aurora australis or Southern Lights. Auroras occur in the atmosphere level known as the thermosphere with different gases present. When solar particles collide with oxygen, green or red light is visible, collisions with nitrogen will result in blue hues.

The Best Times to See the Northern Lights in Churchill

Although you can see aurora year-round, December to March has more hours of darkness and often cold and clear skies. In Churchill, February and March offer the best chances to see Northern Lights. Nights near a new moon are especially good for viewing.

How to Get to Churchill: The Polar Bear Capital of the World

Frontiers North has direct flights from Calgary and Winnipeg. They will offer several five-day packages with food, meal and transportation in 2025.

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Taking in the tundra and frozen ice by day. Photo Credit: Carol Patterson

What Can You Do in Churchill During the Day?

Churchill’s unusual mix of boreal forest, tundra and taiga biomes offers an interesting backdrop for dog sledding, snowshoeing and fat biking. Napping is also popular.

Churchill, Manitoba Delights For Foodies

Food lovers will find a tasty culinary scene with a multicourse meal at Dan’s Diner. The restaurant is a specially designed tundra buggy, with skylights for aurora viewing. It’s been moved to a wilderness location on the edge of the forest, far from any artificial light.

Carol Patterson was hosted as media by Frontiers North Adventures. They did not review the story, and the opinions shared here are her own.

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