Shaped like a bent ice-cream cone, the Queen Charlotte Islands, also known as Haida Gwaii, are an archipelago of about 150 islands across from the city of Prince Rupert.

The islands were left untouched by the last Ice Age, and have an eco-system unique to Canada. The forests house distinctive species of mammal such as the dusky shrew and short-tailed weasel. There is also a large population of bald eagles, and the spring brings hundreds of migrating gray whales past the shores.

The islands have been the home of the Haida people for thousands of years. Today, the Haida are recognized for their artistic talents, particularly their carvings and sculptures from cedar wood and argillite (a black slatelike stone found only on these islands).

It was the Haida who led environmental campaigns against the logging companies in the 1980s, which led to the founding of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve  in 1988. The park houses centuries-old rainforest, including 1,000-year-old Sitka spruce, red cedar, and western hemlock.