After nearly two years of being shut down, tours of Wind Cave at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota are set to resume Saturday.

North of the Arctic Circle, our Twin Otter soars over the Mackenzie Delta’s maze of waterways and patchwork of tundra, darts across the Beaufort Sea and passes over the British Mountains before shaking and shuddering its way down to Sheep Creek International Airport. Well, that’s what the hand-painted sign says at the end of the grassy wilderness landing area. Parks Canada marks the spot as Imniarvik base camp in Ivvavik National Park, a place that just 100 or so people get to see each year in the extreme northwest corner of the Yukon.

Even a global pandemic couldn’t knock Banff National Park off the top of the list of Canada’s most visited national parks. Rouge National Urban Park saw more visitors than ever before as urbanites looked for quick and close outdoor escapes. And a Quebec island that once served as a quarantine station for new immigrants, and is now a national historic site, enjoyed a summer surge in popularity.

Restoration of the historic Chateau at Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve has been delayed due to additional studies of the lodge, but now is expected to get underway this summer.