Haida Gwaii. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.
Visit responsibly
Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:
Maps and location
Getting there
Damaxyaa Heritage Site/Conservancy is located near the northern end of North Moresby Island, immediately south and west of the community of Sandspit. It is part of an archipelago-wide system of protected areas that includes Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, several provincial parks and ecological reserves, and ten other heritage site/conservancies. In total half of the land base of Haida Gwaii is now in protected status. It includes a portion of the Haans and Agnes creeks’ watersheds. The heritage site/conservancy also contains most sections of the popular Louise Dover Trail that winds it way through old growth cedar and hemlock forests.
Things to do
The Louise Dover Trail is a 4 km trail of moderate difficulty which starts beside the Dover Creek Bridge and winds along this salmon river, crosses a log bridge, then takes hikers through old forest with Haida cultural values and circles around to bring you back to the trailhead.
Hunting is permitted in this park.
Anyone hunting in British Columbia must comply with BC hunting regulations. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
About this conservancy
This heritage site/conservancy contains a number of recorded cultural values. These include at least 668 known culturally modified trees and one registered archaeological site. Many of these areas have not been inventoried thoroughly which indicates that the heritage site/conservancy likely contains many other unrecorded cultural heritage and archaeological sites.
The cultural heritage values in the heritage site/conservancy include opportunities for the ongoing continuance of Haida culture through traditional use of the area. Some examples of traditional use within Damaxyaa Heritage Site/Conservancy may include monumental cedar and cedar bark harvesting, medicinal plant harvesting, hunting, fishing, trapping and food gathering. The heritage site/conservancy also provides a place for the physical expression of culture through monumental art such as totems.
Damaxyaa Heritage Site/Conservancy is located within the Queen Charlotte Lowlands terrestrial ecosection (which is well represented by protected areas on Haida Gwaii), and the marine component that has been recommended for protection is within the Hecate Strait marine ecosection.
The easternmost portion of the heritage site/conservancy is made up of clastic sedimentary rocks and the western-most area is predominately marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Near the centre of the conservancy/heritage site is a rare outcrop of relatively young intrusive rocks.
The centre of the heritage site/conservancy is densely forested and dominated by late seral Western redcedar and Western hemlock forests along a north-facing bluff. The western section of the heritage site/conservancy is drained by Haans Creek, a salmonid stream with highly productive riparian old-growth. Raised linear beach ridges can be found in the easternmost areas of the heritage site/conservancy. These relic marine shoreline deposits are now dominated by nutrient-poor lodgepole pine and yellow cedar-sphagnum ecosystem associations and swamp wetlands.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.
Contact
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