The early name proposed for these travel corridor was the Northern Yellowhead Transportation Route. The Northern Woods and Water Route Association was established in 1974, their further promotion of the route was to increase tourist travel. George R. Stephenson (1916–2003), of McLennan was one of the first facilitators to organise the Northern Woods and Water Route across Western Canada in 1974. Henry Andres was chairman of the Northern Woods and Water Association for eight years wherein the association worked on placing NWWR signs both on provincial highways and maps. Brochures promoting tourism were printed, and the association sponsored more than five cavalcades where wagons would traverse the route between Winnipeg and Dawson Creek promoting tourism and the creation of the travel corridor. On August 21, 1975, one of these Northern Woods and Water Cavalcades stopped at Nipawin Regional Park and toured Nipawin.