North of 60
 

I've got enough *A miles for a US/Canada award ticket for which I'm in the planning stages right now, so I don't have any specific places in mind. I'm really attracted to the notion of going somewhere remote, but I don't know what's worth it.

Here are three places I've done some preliminary research on:

Anchorage (yeah, not in Canada, I know: also requires long US Air flight from PHX--yikes!)
Whitehorse
Yellowknife

Not sure when I'd want to go, but I'd bet the availability isn't good from June to August (mud season isn't fun anywhere, so I suspect September is a real possibility, but I'm open to other times). I've got an ok handle on what hotels might cost in each area. I've got an idea of what tourist sites are being promoted (and guide books are skimpy on Whitehorse and Yellowknife). Car rental doesn't look to tricky.

Some things I enjoy: I would enjoy light hiking, no more than say 5 or 6 km. The aurora could be fun to see, but I wouldn't tweak if I didn't see them. Fishing from the dock is ok, but not a requirement. A short flight-seeing tour would be fun, but I've only been able to find *very* expensive options for that on the web (CAN$900+).

So here's my question: Which of the three (especially the latter two) locations above would you recommend? What sorts of things are at those places that I wouldn't find at the tourism websites?

I would not consider any of the above to be the 'real' north - they have trees in Yellowknife fercrissake.

If you want a proper 'north of 60' Canadian expedition, go to somewhere like YHK or YIO - where fishing is not done off a dock but through a hole in the ice, and there is no car rental because there are no roads to anywhere (better to rent a Honda or a skidoo instead, or get someone to lend you theirs), hiking over the tundra is OK in the summer so long as you're not afraid of being eaten by bears, &c. Of course this would require travel on First Air or Canadian North, which may not be possible through *A plans other than Aeroplan.

If on the other hand you are just looking for a woodsy, outdoorsy, 'Northern Lite' holiday, why not just go to northern Ontario or BC ? YZF and YXY are more remote but not really all that different IMO.