Polar Bear Trip Report 2026

Churchill, Canada
November 1 - 7, 2026

November 1, 2026. Day One. Arriving in Polar Bear Country

Our Churchill adventure has begun!

We met up with our group at the airport, everyone arriving safely with all their gear, and boarded our private charter flight to Churchill at 1 p.m. Everyone was excited and raring to go. Seeing that excitement always makes me happy.

Joining us this week are Jill and Bill, Mike and Brandi, and Derek and Monthakan. I’ve traveled with everyone except Jill and Bill, so this trip brings a chance to catch up with old friends and get to know two new ones.

Things sound promising for the week ahead. Yesterday’s sightings totaled 18 polar bears, so there are plenty of bears in the area!

My wish list? Sparring polar bears, a snowy owl, foxes, especially Arctic foxes, and, the one I really, really want to see, a wolf. Whether any of that happens is up to nature, but I’m putting out good energy for all of us to have a great week.

Once we arrived at the lodge, we sat down with Remi for our safety briefing before heading into town to pick up groceries. We usually return to the lodge for lunch, so having food ready makes things easier between outings. Afterward, we settled into our rooms, prepped our cameras, and headed back into town for dinner.

Our lodge sits outside Churchill, right in polar bear country. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy staying here. Bears sometimes pass right by the lodge as they travel toward the coast.

We have a fence around the lodge that helps keep the bears out and allows us to walk around safely. 

There’s also less light pollution out here.

When the northern lights appear, we have great opportunities to photograph them away from the lights of town.

Fingers crossed we get that chance this week.

After dinner, everyone headed to their rooms for some rest. We’re here, our cameras are ready, and tomorrow we head out to see what Churchill has waiting for us!

November 2, 2026. Day Two

Sunrise at 8:30 a.m., and we are headed out. Our first full day searching for Churchill polar bears begins!

Our local bear guide this week is Selby, my guide from last season. She is a good guide and loves her job. Gonna be a fun week.

Yesterday was sunny and warm, not exactly what you hope for on a winter polar bear trip, but a beautiful day nonetheless. 

This morning felt very different. Frost everywhere, a serious chill in the air, and snow clouds rolling in from the distance. 

Hopefully we get some snow today.

We headed toward Bird Cove, where we heard the action was. The two brothers were supposed to be in the area, and we hoped they would be feeling playful.

Right before we arrived, a thick fog rolled in and wiped out the visibility. We could not see anything. So we headed to an area the locals call “Golf Balls,” named for the two giant white domes on an old radar station.

Along the way, we passed a lone ptarmigan sitting in a field. Nobody wanted to stop because a few vehicles parked farther ahead had everyone thinking about bears.

Hopefully we find more birds later. I like birds, and ptarmigans are beautiful!

We spotted our first polar bear walking in the distance. We were about to move on to see if we could find a better view of the bear when a report came through of a sleeping bear nearby. We headed over to photograph that bear instead.

Before long, the fog caught up with us. Our sleeping bear disappeared into the gray, so we moved toward the gun range, where there were reports of another bear and a hunting fox.

We didn’t find the bear, but we did find the fox. What a beautiful, fluffy animal! We had a short photography session as it hunted around some nearby shrubs.

It caught a vole, though we missed getting photographs with the catch in its mouth. The fox lay down to eat, then trotted off into the fog as it rolled through yet again.

Next, we cruised Polar Bear Alley, a back road that follows the coastline. Just outside the area, we found our third bear walking over the rocks toward the coast.

We moved the van to find a good viewing spot and discovered bear number four sleeping on the beach.

The approaching bear startled the sleeping one, sending it running up the beach.

We hoped it would come our way, but it headed in the opposite direction. 

The other bear continued toward us, eventually passing by and giving everyone a great show.

We later caught up with the bear that had moved off and spotted another in the distance. Five bears for the morning!

After lunch, we headed back out. As we were leaving, word came through that a mother and two cubs had been spotted near the old whale racks. We were told these were remnants of the days when beluga carcasses were used to draw bears away from town. Thankfully, the approach to keeping bears out of town has changed.

We spent a couple of hours watching the family before they wandered farther away. Then we continued our search.

Back near the gun range, we spotted a distant bear by the public dump, this is number nine for the day. 

A little farther along, another bear was walking across a frozen pond. We grabbed a few “proof of life” photographs before it headed toward the dump.

Ten bears and counting.

On the drive toward Bird Cove, we spotted what looked like another sleeping bear in the distance. Bear number eleven, or so we thought.

It turned out to be another mother with two cubs.

Thirteen polar bears! 

Lucky number thirteen.

This family was far away, but we stopped to watch. The cubs were wrestling and playing on the ice. So damn cute. Even at a distance, it was worth taking the time to enjoy them.

We drove around a little more before getting word that the first mother and her two cubs were up and moving again. We returned to watch the family cross the road in front of several vehicles, then make their way to the far side of a frozen pond. 

There, they settled down, looking like they might be tucking in for the night.

That’s where we finished our day.

Thirteen polar bears, a beautiful hunting fox, and cubs playing on the ice. What a first day out in Churchill!