Churchill Wild

What is Churchill Wild?

A family company that flies small groups to its own lodges on the Hudson Bay coast to see polar bears on foot, rather than from a tundra vehicle. Co-founder Mike Reimer and wildlife photographer Dennis Fast spotted the Seal River site from the air in spring 1993; Mike and Jeanne Reimer opened Seal River Heritage Lodge in July 1994 with a single guest, for what they call the "world's first and only on-foot polar bear safari".¹ Today it runs three fly-in lodges, and in 2024 it opened the Blueberry Inn in the town of Churchill.¹ More than 10,000 guests have met a polar bear at ground level with it, the company says.²

Its offices are in Ile des Chenes, Manitoba, and in Churchill.³ It runs no ships and sells no day trips, so you will not find it in our voyage finder; every trip is a fixed-date package from Winnipeg, priced below. We have not traveled with Churchill Wild; this page draws on its published trips, rates and policies, read on October 15, 2026.

How do Churchill Wild's walking safaris work?

Guides lead small groups out from the lodge on foot, twice a day on the fall photo safaris, and decide how close to go by reading each bear's behavior as they approach.⁴² The rule of thumb is to stay at least 330 ft (100 m) from a bear. When a bear comes closer anyway, guides escalate: first the human voice, then a small rock or snowball lobbed at its rear end, and they also carry bear spray, starter pistols firing "banger" and "screamer" shells, and a shotgun.²

Lead guides have at least 10 years of experience with wild polar bears, and every guide must complete bear guard training recognized by Parks Canada, pass the Canadian Firearms Safety Course and hold a first aid certificate.² The company says these protocols have kept its safety record "pristine" for more than 30 years.²

Expect to walk 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km) a day over rocky or spongy tundra, snow and tidal flats, though you can stay at the lodge and watch from the lounge. Each lodge has a fenced compound where guests may go outside on their own; beyond the fence, every outing needs a guide.⁵

Not every outing is a walk. On the fall photo safari at Nanuk, guides also use custom "Tundra Rhinos", snowmobiles and komatiks (sleds), and the September Hudson Bay Odyssey there travels in specialized all-terrain vehicles; summer trips at Seal River go out "on foot or in specialized tundra vehicles".⁶⁷⁸ If walking is the point, the fall photo safari at Seal River, built around two guided excursions a day at ground level, is the purest version, by our reading of the itineraries.⁴

Which Churchill Wild lodge should you choose?

The lodge decides the season and the wildlife. Each takes 16 guests at a time.⁹

Distances, flights and seasons are from Churchill Wild's FAQ and lodge overview.⁵¹⁰ Nanuk, the company says, gives the best chance of wolves.⁵ Seal River has eight double rooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a viewing tower.⁴

How much does Churchill Wild cost in 2027?

From CAD 18,995 per person, sharing, but every trip at that price was sold out when we looked. The cheapest fall polar bear place still open was CAD 19,295 for the 7-day Polar Bear Photo Safari at Seal River, and only as one shared place for a man on October 19 or October 23, 2027.⁴

By our arithmetic the Seal River photo safari works out to about CAD 2,756 a day. A private room nearly doubles the price: CAD 35,695 on that safari.⁴ Prices cover the trip from Winnipeg on: Winnipeg hotel nights before and after, flights to Churchill and on to the lodge, all meals and drinks including alcohol, guided outings and seasonal outerwear. They leave out taxes, tips, insurance and your flight to Winnipeg.⁵

The Great Ice Bear trip is the one that mixes methods: four nights at Dymond Lake plus a chartered Tundra Buggy tour and a night in Churchill.¹¹

When is the best time to go with Churchill Wild?

It depends on what else you want to see. Churchill Wild says bears come off the ice in early July and stay on the coast until late November or early December, so its lodges see bears from July through November.⁵ July to late August pairs bears with beluga whales; September to November pairs them with the northern lights. In the fall the bears are more active as they wait for the ice; in summer they rest more and spend time near the water.⁵

For the hardiest, the 14-day Nanuk Emergence Quest goes out from mid-February to mid-March to look for mothers leading newborn cubs out of their dens, in wind chills down to minus 58°F (minus 50°C). All three 2027 dates are sold out, at CAD 28,795.¹⁵

What are Churchill Wild's booking terms?

Strict. A non-refundable deposit of CAD 4,000 per person secures a place, the balance is due in two payments 120 days before departure, and the company states: "Our safaris are non-refundable."⁵ It strongly recommends insurance that covers cancellation, interruption and delays, and wants proof of it at final payment unless you choose to self-insure.⁵

Pack light: luggage is limited to 70 lb (32 kg) in total, in a soft duffel, because small planes fly you to the lodges. The minimum age is 8. If you want to take VIA Rail's train, Churchill Wild advises doing it only on the way home, because a late train cannot move its charter flights.⁵

How does Churchill Wild compare with Frontiers North and Natural Habitat?

It costs about twice as much as Frontiers North's cheapest tundra vehicle trip and sells out sooner, and in return you are on the ground, far from other tourists, with drinks included. Each company's price is in its own currency.

Churchill Wild says its lodges have exclusive access to stretches of coast no one else reaches, and that because no other operators work nearby it has full control over anything that could draw bears in.⁵²³ It also bans drones around wildlife and never feeds animals.²³ The other two work in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, where Frontiers North and Great White Bear, Natural Habitat's partner, share the 18 permitted tour vehicles.²⁴ Our polar bear tours guide compares all three with Svalbard, Greenland, Baffin Island and Alaska, and our Churchill page covers the town.

Does every Churchill Wild trip see polar bears?

Nearly, by the company's own account: in 33 years it has had "very few departures that have not seen polar bears", though weather can intervene and sometimes bears are seen only at a distance.⁵ That is the company's own account, and its FAQ also says that, as with all wildlife encounters, sightings are never guaranteed.⁵

On the bears' future, Churchill Wild parts company with the scientists. Its FAQ says the family's observations suggest the population "is static and it may even be growing".⁵ The Polar Bear Specialist Group puts the Western Hudson Bay population at 618 in 2021 and judges it very likely to have decreased, and research cited by CBC News suggests the number of bears in the region fell by half between 1979 and 2021.²⁵²⁴ For more on the species, see our polar bear page.

Who should skip Churchill Wild?

Budget travelers, and anyone who cannot walk several miles a day on uneven ground. Solo travelers who will not share a room, since a private room nearly doubles the price. Anyone who may need to cancel, because the safaris are non-refundable. And anyone booking late: for 2027 most fall departures were already sold out.⁴⁶¹¹²⁶