This series gives curated travel tips for Canadians and others wanting to discover more of this beautiful, vast country we call Canada!
There are Canadian road trips where the attraction is what waits at the end.
The Yukon is different.
The road itself becomes the destination.
Mountains appear for hours.
Rivers follow highways.
Tiny communities sit hundreds of kilometres apart.
Summer daylight seems reluctant to disappear.
And distances that looked intimidating while planning begin to feel like part of the adventure.
For a serious first visit, plan seven to ten days.
Begin in Whitehorse
Do not treat Whitehorse simply as the place where the airport happens to be.
Spend a full day.
Walk along the Yukon River.
Explore the waterfront.
Learn about the sternwheeler and Gold Rush history of the region.
Visit Miles Canyon.
Then eat somewhere local and enjoy the strange experience of finishing dinner in summer while the sun still appears to have several hours of work left.
Travel Yukon describes Whitehorse as a combination of First Nations culture, Gold Rush history and wilderness, with hundreds of kilometres of trails accessible around the city.
Take a Southern Lakes Day Trip
From Whitehorse, drive toward Carcross.
Stop at Emerald Lake.
Explore Carcross itself.
The landscape changes quickly, and this excursion provides an easy introduction to Yukon road travel before committing to longer distances.
Drive West to Kluane
Next, head toward Haines Junction.
The drive is approximately 154 kilometres from Whitehorse and takes roughly two hours under ordinary conditions.
Haines Junction is the gateway to Kluane National Park and Reserve.
And Kluane is where the scale of the Yukon becomes difficult to comprehend.
The region contains immense mountains, glaciers and wilderness, including Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain.
Start at Da Kų Cultural Centre
Before hiking, stop at Da Kų Cultural Centre in Haines Junction.
Learn about Champagne and Aishihik First Nations culture and speak with staff about current conditions.
Understanding the land through the people who have lived there for generations gives the park considerably more meaning than simply arriving with a trail map.
Visit Kathleen Lake
Kathleen Lake provides an accessible introduction to Kluane.
Have a picnic.
Walk.
Paddle if conditions and your experience permit.
Then choose a hike suitable for your abilities.
For something relatively approachable, Travel Yukon suggests options such as the Dezadeash River or St. Elias Lake trails.
More experienced hikers can consider the King’s Throne area and other demanding routes.
Consider Flightseeing
This is one destination where paying for a scenic flight may genuinely change your understanding of the place.
From the ground, Kluane is enormous.
From the air, you begin to understand that the mountains and icefields extend vastly beyond what the highway reveals.
Travel Yukon repeatedly highlights flightseeing over Kluane as one of the area’s signature experiences.
Weather determines everything, so do not build an inflexible itinerary around a single flight time.
Then Drive North Toward Dawson City
This is where the road trip becomes serious.
Follow the Klondike Highway.
Stop in Carmacks.
Walk to the viewpoint over Five Finger Rapids.
Visit community cultural centres where open.
Take your time.
Travel Yukon’s Klondike-Kluane itinerary specifically recommends stops at Carmacks, Five Finger Rapids, Pelly Crossing and other communities rather than treating the trip to Dawson as a single uninterrupted drive.
Give Dawson City Two Nights
Dawson City is one of Canada’s strangest and most fascinating towns.
Wooden buildings.
Boardwalks.
Gold Rush history.
Permafrost-distorted structures.
A huge river.
And a personality that seems completely appropriate for somewhere this far north.
Walk rather than drive.
Take a Parks Canada historic tour.
Visit the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre to learn about Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in history and culture.
Explore the Gold Rush sites.
Visit the Robert Service Cabin if literary history interests you.
Travel Yukon specifically recommends the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, historic walking tours and Dawson’s preserved Gold Rush sites.
Go Up Midnight Dome
Drive or hike to the viewpoint above Dawson.
Below you, the Yukon and Klondike rivers meet.
The town becomes tiny.
The surrounding wilderness seems endless.
Do this late in the evening during summer and you may finally understand why northern daylight becomes part of the travel experience.
Add Tombstone if You Have Time
For travellers with additional days, head toward Tombstone Territorial Park.
The landscape becomes increasingly dramatic and alpine.
This is the beginning of another level of Yukon travel and can serve as a taste of the Dempster Highway without committing to the full journey north.
When Should You Go?
For a first road trip, June through early September is ideal.
Summer provides extraordinarily long days.
Late August into early September brings fall colour astonishingly early compared with southern Canada.
Winter is beautiful but turns this into a substantially more serious cold-weather trip.
A Great Eight-Day Yukon Route
Day 1: Whitehorse
Day 2: Carcross and Southern Lakes
Days 3-4: Haines Junction and Kluane
Day 5: Drive toward Dawson with stops
Days 6-7: Dawson City
Day 8: Return or continue exploring
With ten or more days, add Tombstone and additional time around Kluane.
The Most Important Yukon Travel Rule
Fill the fuel tank sooner than you think you need to.
Carry supplies.
Download maps.
Check road conditions.
Do not expect southern Canadian levels of cellular service everywhere.
And stop obsessing about how quickly you are getting to the next destination.
The empty distance between places is one of the things you came north to experience.
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