Table of contents for Spring 2025 in Explore Magazine

I like to keep my design team in suspense this time of year. “When is Dave going to send us his editorial? Is he going to send us his editorial?!” My Spring issue “Trailhead” is always a bit late. But there’s a good reason (at least in my mind). Because of the shortened month of February, the magazine goes to press a little quicker this season. As such, I’m stuck writing about tulips and canoe trips in the height of winter—when springtime inspiration is tough to find. In fact, as I slowly type today, Vancouver is experiencing a rare deep-freeze. It’s about as wintery as it gets on the West Coast. Luckily, I have some hot news to tell you about… First off, you may notice this issue feels a…

Spring. That time when paddlers in Canada can get their craft back in the water after winter’s chill had froze the lakes, ponds and rivers in much of the country. Here’s a list of 10 waterways across Canada you might want to dip a paddle in whether it’s a canoe, kayak, SUP or raft. Kayak Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick An island in the Bay of Fundy, Grand Manan offers interesting coastal paddles along its own coast or among the tiny islands surrounding it. You get there by ferry from the mainland at Blacks Harbour (reservations recommended). Renowned for birdwatching and whale-watching, you may also find yourself paddling past shipwrecks, old lighthouses and, if you’re lucky, you might even get to play hide-and-seek with some seals. There are two or…

Jeanine Holowatuik has witnessed the magic of the northern lights more times than she can remember. Growing up in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, her access to the aurora borealis was literally off her front porch. Hudson Bay, a quintessentially Canadian town known for snowmobiling trails and being the “Moose Capital of the World,” is located under the aurora oval and boasts some of the darkest sky on the planet. “When I was little, my dad would get off night shifts, and he would wake me and mom to come outside and see the huge northern lights show. I have seen it so many times and I’m still not sick of it one bit,” said Holowatuik, a third-generation Canadian with family lineage tracing back to Ukraine. “When the northern lights explode over…

A group of four adults and teenagers snorkel through a kelp forest among rocky reefs. Most are content to float on the surface and wait for something to swim past. Scott Wallace is on the hunt for sea urchins. In a previous life, he was a David Suzuki Foundation biologist. Three years ago, Wallace opened an eco-adventure lodge in the historic Aguilar House, one of the more fascinating buildings in remote Bamfield on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. His sea urchin quest has a dual purpose. The host in him wants to entice guests to try uni—the raw, creamy orange gonads of a sea urchin that are a highly sought delicacy in Japan (it’s not for the gastronomically squeamish). The biologist in him feels zero remorse over plucking a few more…

One of the most distinctive sounds of an alpine meadow is made by one of its smallest creatures—the pika. Its telltale warning chirp is part of the melody of the mountains. Pikas are also a canary in the proverbial coal mine of the rapid changes underway in sensitive alpine environments due to climate change. This tiny relative of the rabbit could fit in the palm of your hand. The species evolved in the cold, dry and treeless mountains of Central Asia before migrating over the Bering land bridge roughly 20,000 years ago and colonizing unglaciated areas in the north known as Beringia. Just two of the 30 known subspecies of pika are found in Canada today: the Rocky Mountain pika to the south and the collared pika in Yukon, northern…

YETI Crossroads 56cm Luggage ($450; yeti.ca) Tougher than your average carry-on, YETI’s 56cm Luggage is built from expedition-grade 700-denier nylon that is water- and abrasion-resistant. Plus, the wheels are serviceable and rugged enough to get muddy. An interior divider helps you stay organized and removeable compression straps let you pack it full—really full. YETI Rambler 591ml Tumbler ($45: yeti.ca) One cup to rule them all—the YETI Ramble 591ml Tumbler insulates your hot coffee in the morning, keeps water or sports-drinks cool in the afternoon and provides a true pint for the evening campfire session. Cupholder compatible, dishwasher safe, double-wall vacuum insulated and splash-proof with a magnetic slider? It’s simply the perfect tumbler. MEC Aquanator Rain Jacket ($139.95; mec.ca) Stay dry and comfortable with the MEC AQUANATOR® Rain Jacket. Crafted from…

Mountain caribou used to be so numerous in the Klinse-Za region of the Rocky Mountains north of Prince George, British Columbia, that elders in the West Moberly First Nation said they were like “bugs on the landscape.” That was a while ago. In 2013, there were just 38 animals left in the herd. That trend has played out across the mountain caribou’s historic range, which included most of the Mountain West, from the northern US to northern BC. In 1990, there were an estimated 10,000 mountain caribou in 41 herds. Today there are less than 4,700, and 15 of the herds no longer exist. Over the last decade, the Klinse-Za has bucked the trend with a “remarkable” recovery that is providing hope for the remaining herds. “Mountain caribou populations are…

We know there is an irony in gearing up to Leave No Trace. We also know the right tool makes any job easier, including reducing our individual and collective impact on parks and natural spaces. That’s what the seven principles of Leave No Trace are all about. These seven products will make it easier to play your part. 1 PLAN & PREPARE This is all the pre-trip planning you probably already do, like knowing regulations and restrictions, packing food, bringing the necessary gear and generally knowing what to expect. Increasingly, that can be done from your wrist with a GPS watch like the Polar Grit X2 Pro ($1,100; polar.com). It displays topographic maps, provides route guidance, tracks progress and has dozens of other functions when it’s paired with an app.…

I love spring. It’s an unruly, under-medicated, over-sharing, over-emotional rollercoaster ride; an explosive celebration of survival after winter’s long, cold fingers are finally removed from our scarf-wrapped throats. Even if it only lasts a day or two here in Canada, it’s still somehow the season of the best skiing, the best paddling and the best-feeling-ever of warm stone under your fingers. It’s the season where you discover that the slow leak in your mountain bike tire last fall is now not so slow, and that fixing it is now imperative before you can ride, along with the mystery of whatever happened to your bike shorts… Which were loose last fall but seem to have tightened up substantially over the winter due to under-use. (Fabrics do that, contract when not used,…

Elliston, Newfoundland and Labrador—a place of breathtaking panoramic views and some of the world’s most incredible puffin colonies—became the backdrop for connection with my family, my roots and the natural beauty of this incredible province. Two puffins sat away from the bustling colony. Behind me stood my wife, Tara, and our two children, Ethan, 12, and Callie, 8, watching in wide-eyed wonder. I turned to them, whispering excitedly about the puffins—their resilience, their beauty and how fortunate we are to share Newfoundland’s wild places. As I captured the puffins’ quiet interaction, it struck me: this wasn’t just a photo. It was a reminder—to slow down, observe and honour the natural world. These puffins, balanced on the edge of the cliff, seemed so unbothered by the chaos around them. They reminded…