Story Maps
The CHRS Story Maps highlight the natural, cultural and recreational values of each Canadian Heritage River. With just a click of a button, you can enjoy a virtual tour of these amazing rivers and gain a deeper understanding of their values. We guarantee that you’ll discover something new!
How it Works
Each heritage river Story Map displays various visual representations of geospatial data in combination with text, photos, videos and external links. ArcGIS Online Story Maps were created by ESRI in 2013 to provide users with a new way to share and produce information that is customizable and interactive. As the platform’s title suggests, we are able to tell each river’s story via virtual maps in a way that cannot be conveyed using traditional map images.
History
In 2016, the CHRS began to lay the foundation for our system-wide Story Maps Project by creating an initial map design. In 2018, participating River Stewards and Stewardship Groups began to conduct research on their river’s natural, cultural, and recreational values, to ultimately provide a comprehensive list of each river’s most valuable assets, bringing each river’s story to life.
Our GIS team has played a pivotal role in advancing this work, undertaking a full redevelopment of the Story Maps in a modernized template that strengthens both functionality and storytelling. This updated collection was relaunched in late March 2026.