Polar bears playing on the ice at Seal River Heritage Lodge. Peggy Peregrine-Spear photo.
The 2028 Churchill Wild polar bear safari season is now open for bookings. From deep-winter polar bear encounters in February to the final wolf and bear sightings of late November, we are the only place on the planet where you can walk with polar bears in summer, fall and winter. The 2028 season covers more ground, and more of Hudson Bay’s wild coast, than ever before. We hope you can join us!
Here is a complete look at what is available.
Love bites for Mom. Polar bear cub biting Mom’s ear at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.net photo.
3 departures | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
February 13 – 26
February 24 – March 8
March 6 – 19
Winter at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge is something few travellers ever see. You will be in search of polar bear mothers and newborn cubs leaving the den for the first time, in a landscape still gripped by February and early March cold.
The snow is deep, the light is extraordinary, and the encounters are unlike anything else in wildlife travel.
Best for: Cold-weather travellers, returning Churchill Wild guests looking to go deeper, and anyone who wants polar bears in a setting most of the world will never see.
Cloud Wolves of the Kaska Coast
Wolves playing in the snow at Nanuk. (Christoph Jansen / ArcticWild.net)
2 winter/spring departures | 1 summer departure | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
Winter/Spring:
March 17 – 26
March 24 – April 2
Summer:
July 20 – 29
Churchill Wild is one of the only outfitters in the world offering guided walking encounters with wild wolves in their natural territory. The Cloud Wolves of the Kaska Coast safari at Nanuk delivers that experience across three very different moments in the year.
The March departures place guests in wolf country during late winter, when the packs range widely across open terrain that gives long, clear sightlines. The July departure is a different story: boreal forest in full summer growth, long days, and the real possibility of a polar bear encounter alongside the wolves.
Best for: Wildlife enthusiasts with a serious interest in predator behaviour, dedicated photographers, and travellers who want a safari that goes well beyond the bear.
Summer polar bear sitting pretty on the coast of the Hudson Bay. Richard Voliva photo.
9 departures | Seal River Heritage Lodge
July 2 – 9
July 7 – 14
July 12 – 19
July 17 – 24
July 22 – 29
July 27 – August 3
August 1 – 8
August 6 – 13
August 11 – 18
Nine departures across July and August make Birds, Bears & Belugas the most flexible safari in the Churchill Wild season and one of the richest wildlife experiences on the planet.
Polar bears come to the coast of Seal River Heritage Lodge through the summer months, and are met by guests at ground level in the Churchill Wild tradition. Just offshore, one of the world’s great beluga whale gatherings fills the Seal River estuary, while the shoreline and tidal flats draw nesting and migrating birds in numbers that have drawn ornithologists back year after year.
Seal River itself is a heritage site with deep Indigenous history, and some of your walks will reflect that.
Best for: First-time Churchill Wild guests, families with older children, birdwatchers, beluga enthusiasts, and anyone after the full Hudson Bay experience in a single safari.
Relaxing by the river. Summer Dual Lodge Safari. Stacy Heilgeist photo.
6 departures | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
July 25 – August 2
July 29 – August 6
August 2 – 10
August 6 – 14
August 10 – 18
August 14 – 22
The Arctic Discovery safari opens in Winnipeg with a guided tour of the Manitoba Museum’s Arctic Gallery, putting the history of the Hudson Bay watershed, the fur trade, and the Cree and Dene peoples of this coast into context before you head north.
After kayaking with beluga whales on the Churchill River, you will fly to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, set on one of Canada’s most diverse wildlife corridors, where polar bears, black bears, wolves, and a wide range of bird life can all appear on the same afternoon walk.
Six departures spread across late July and August give this safari more scheduling options than most Nanuk experiences offer.
Best for: Travellers who want history and cultural context woven into their wildlife experience, and anyone after beluga whales, black bears, polar bears, the possibility of wolves, and a first visit to Nanuk.
Polar bear on a misty day at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Anjali Singh photo.
4 departures | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
September 1 – 7
September 5 – 11
September 9 – 15
September 13 – 19
September along the southern coast of Hudson Bay is a season in motion. Summer gives way to autumn, the bears grow restless, and the light shifts toward something harder and more dramatic.
The Hudson Bay Odyssey puts guests in the Cape Tatnam Wildlife Management Area during this transition, where boreal forest, tidal flats, and open tundra come together in a landscape that feels genuinely remote. Four overlapping departures allow guests to choose the warmth of early September or the more unsettled conditions that arrive by mid-month.
Best for: Travellers drawn to less-visited corners of the Churchill Wild world, and guests returning to Nanuk in a new season.
Polar bear in summer grass at Seal River Heritage Lodge. Lynne Fox photo.
3 departures | Seal River Heritage Lodge & Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
August 16 – 26
August 20 – 30
August 24 – September 3
The Summer Dual Lodge Safari moves guests through two lodges and two ecosystems over ten days. It opens at Seal River Heritage Lodge, where beluga whales are still gathering in the estuary and summer polar bears patrol the coast.
From there, you will fly to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, where the boreal forest and the wetlands of the Kaskatamagan Wildlife Management Area offer a completely different relationship with the land. Three departures in late August give guests the choice of catching the last of summer or the first cool hints of autumn.
Best for: Returning Churchill Wild guests ready to go deeper, and travellers who want the widest possible range of wildlife and landscape in a single trip.
Northern lights over Tundra Camp on the Barren Lands. Jad Davenport photo.
3 departures | Seal River Heritage Lodge
August 31 – September 9
September 1 – 10
September 7 – 16
Late summer and early fall at Seal River is when the lodge is at its most dramatic. The beluga congregation is winding down, the bears are in peak condition, and the nights are long enough to bring the first real possibility of northern lights.
The Arctic Safari includes time at our tundra camp, where canvas tents and open sky bring you closer to the land than any lodge could. The September dates in particular are when Seal River is at its wildest.
Guests who have been here in September tend to come back.
Best for: Adventurous travellers, those with a taste for tundra camping, and guests who want to experience Seal River at the turn of the season.
Polar bear in fall grass. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Tammy Kokjohn photo.
3 departures | Seal River Heritage Lodge & Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
October 8 – 16
October 12 – 22
October 16 – 26
October on Hudson Bay is when the season turns serious. The Fall Dual Lodge Safari captures both sides of that shift, moving guests through Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge as the tundra transforms from its last autumn colours toward early winter.
The northern lights become a real nightly prospect, the bears grow increasingly active as freeze-up approaches, and the landscape takes on a stark beauty that belongs entirely to this time of year. Three departures give guests the choice of early-October foliage or the snowier conditions of mid-month.
Best for: Returning guests, northern lights chasers, and photographers after dramatic fall light and peak bear activity.
Polar bear performing sign language. Dymond Lake Ecolodge. Teresa McDaniel photo.
7 departures | Dymond Lake Ecolodge
October 17 – 24
October 21 – 28
October 25 – November 1
October 29 – November 5
November 2 – 9
November 6 – 13
November 10 – 17
The Great Ice Bear safari at Dymond Lake Ecolodge is the Churchill Wild experience many guests come to first: polar bears gathering near the coast as Hudson Bay pushes toward freeze-up, all of it on foot, at ground level, without the crowds that descend on the town of Churchill each fall.
Seven departures across October and November give the Great Ice Bear more scheduling options than any other fall safari in the lineup, from the tundra colours of mid-October to the full winter of mid-November.
Dymond Lake itself, remote, intimate, and beautifully rustic, remains one of the most quietly special places in the Churchill Wild family.
Best for: First-time polar bear safari guests, those after the iconic fall bear experience away from Churchill town, and northern lights chasers.
Polar Bear Photo Safari at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
Polar bear stalking plane. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Karl Heinz-Hoefert photo.
5 departures | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
October 24 – 31 (8 days)
October 29 – November 5 (8 days)
November 3 – 10 (8 days)
November 8 – 14
November 12 – 19 (8 days)
Nanuk in late October and November gives photographers something they will not find anywhere else: bears moving through a landscape that ranges from rust-coloured tundra to early snowfall, framed by boreal forest edges that create a visual depth the open coast cannot match.
The Polar Bear Photo Safari at Nanuk is built around that opportunity, with guides who understand light, positioning, and the patience that serious wildlife photography requires. Four of the five 2028 departures run eight days, giving photographers the time on the land that meaningful work demands.
Best for: Amateur and professional photographers, returning guests seeking a more focused creative experience, and anyone who wants extended time in the Nanuk environment during the fall bear season.
Polar Bear Photo Safari at Seal River Heritage Lodge
Polar bear friends after sparring. Seal River Heritage Lodge. Bobbie Baird photo.
7 departures | Seal River Heritage Lodge
October 20 – 26
October 24 – 30
October 28 – November 3
November 1 – 8 (8 days)
November 6 – 13 (8 days)
November 11 – 17
November 15 – 22 (8 days)
Seal River gives photographers a different visual world than Nanuk: open coastal terrain, the wide sky of the Bay, and a shoreline that stages bear encounters against a sense of space that is hard to replicate anywhere else on earth.
The November departures carry the best odds of significant northern lights activity, adding another dimension to what is already an extraordinary photographic opportunity. Seven departures, a mix of seven-day and eight-day options, mean there is almost certainly a date that works.
Best for: Photographers at every level, guests who need scheduling flexibility, and northern lights enthusiasts.
Photography Masterclass at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
Northern lights at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Ian Johnson photo.
2 departures | Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
November 17 – 26
November 24 – December 3
The Photography Masterclass closes the Churchill Wild season. By late November, Nanuk is deep in its winter transition: snow on the ground, Hudson Bay freezing at the edges, the northern lights appearing most nights, and the bears making their final movements before the ice consolidates.
This is not a safari that includes photography pointers. It is a rigorous creative experience inside one of the most demanding and rewarding wildlife environments on earth, led by National Geographic photographer Jad Davenport.
Best for: Serious photographers committed to advancing their craft, and anyone who has been waiting for a reason to see the Hudson Bay coast in full winter.
To inquire about any 2028 departure, please email info@churchillwild.com or call toll-free 1-866-846-9453.
