The Yukon — Larger Than Life
Capital: Whitehorse · Population: approximately 46,000 · Became a territory: 1898
The Yukon punches above its weight. It's small by population (smaller than many Ontario towns), but it's bigger than France, has one of Canada's largest national parks (Kluane), holds the country's highest peak (Mount Logan at 5,959 metres), and produced the only Canadian gold rush that everyone's heard of. The licence plate motto is "Larger Than Life" and for once the marketing is accurate.
A Compact History
The Yukon is the traditional territory of fourteen Indigenous First Nations, speaking eight different languages. The Hudson's Bay Company explored the region in the 1840s. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1899 is what made the Yukon famous worldwide — roughly 100,000 people set off for the Klondike, perhaps 30,000 arrived, and something like 4,000 actually found gold. Dawson City went from nothing to 40,000 people in three years, then back down to a couple of thousand. The Yukon became a separate territory in 1898 at the height of the rush. Mining is still important; tourism has become the largest private employer.
Whitehorse
Whitehorse is the capital and by far the largest community in the territory, population about 33,000. It sits on the Yukon River in a valley sheltered by mountains on both sides, which gives it surprisingly mild weather by subarctic standards.
Is Whitehorse a real city?
Yes, more than visitors expect. It has good restaurants, two craft breweries, the MacBride Museum (the best small museum on the Klondike Gold Rush), the Yukon Arts Centre, and a year-round local theatre scene. The SS Klondike, a sternwheeler riverboat parked on the river, is a good Parks Canada historic site. The Whitehorse Fishway, on the Yukon River, has the longest wooden fish ladder in the world — it was built to help salmon get around the hydroelectric dam.
What should I do on a short visit?
Walk the Millennium Trail along the river. Take a day trip to Miles Canyon (stunning basalt columns and a footbridge), which is 15 minutes from downtown. Drive out to Emerald Lake on the Klondike Highway — the colour is unreal and it's an easy hour's drive south. In winter, go aurora-viewing at one of the wilderness lodges an hour out of town.
How cold is Whitehorse?
Colder than Edmonton, warmer than Yellowknife. Average January highs are around -11°C and lows around -21°C. It can hit -40°C but rarely. The surprise is summer: highs can reach 28°C in July, and with 20 hours of daylight you can hike at 11 p.m.
Dawson City
Dawson City sits at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers, about a 6-hour drive north of Whitehorse on the Klondike Highway. Its peak population was about 40,000 during the gold rush in 1898; today it's around 1,400. The wooden sidewalks, false-fronted buildings, and unpaved streets have been preserved almost intact — Parks Canada runs much of the town as a living historic site.
Is Dawson still a gold-rush town?
Partly — placer mining is still active in the Klondike, and the dredges that reshaped the landscape a century ago are Parks Canada sites. It's also a festival town (Dawson City Music Festival in July, the International Short Film Festival in April), a writers' retreat (Pierre Berton's childhood home is now a writers-in-residence program), and the starting point of several long-distance road trips, including the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean.
What's the Sourtoe Cocktail?
A drink at the Downtown Hotel's Sourdough Saloon that includes a dehydrated, mummified human toe. Your lips must touch the toe for you to become a member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club. It's been running since 1973. Multiple toes have been lost over the years. The bar will tell you the whole history.
Is Dawson worth the drive?
Yes, if you have three days to spare. Two for Dawson and one each way on the drive. The road itself (especially the Tintina Valley stretch) is beautiful.
Kluane National Park & Reserve
Kluane is the Yukon's flagship national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (together with the adjacent Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska, Glacier Bay in Alaska, and Tatshenshini-Alsek in BC — the largest protected wilderness on Earth). Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak, is here. So is the largest non-polar icefield in the world. Most visitors don't see much of it on foot — the back country is serious mountaineering — but the visitor centre at Haines Junction, the Kings Throne day hike, and the flight-seeing tours out of Haines Junction give you a sense of the scale.
The Dempster Highway
The Dempster is the only public road in Canada that crosses the Arctic Circle. It runs 736 km from just east of Dawson City to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, and since 2017 has continued another 138 km to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. It's gravel the whole way. Most drivers do it in four or five days. Only for the well-prepared — mechanical problems are serious and help is far away — but one of the great road trips in North America.
Yukon FAQs
When should I visit to see the aurora?
Mid-August through mid-April, with the darkest and clearest nights typically in February and March. Whitehorse is not as reliable as Yellowknife for aurora (it's slightly further south and has more cloud cover) but still produces good viewing 50-60 percent of nights in peak season.
How much daylight is there in summer?
In Whitehorse, about 20 hours on the summer solstice. In Dawson City, about 22 hours. Above the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn't set for a few weeks in June. The psychological effect is significant — a lot of visitors don't sleep much their first few nights in the territory in June.
How do I get to the Yukon?
Fly into Whitehorse (direct daily service from Vancouver, Calgary, and seasonally Ottawa and Toronto). Alternatively, drive up the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek, BC — it's about 1,400 km and two full days of driving to Whitehorse.
What's a Yukon gold coin?
A collectible 1-oz pure-gold coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint featuring a Yukon landscape scene. Different from the Gold Maple Leaf. Popular with collectors who want something Canadian but slightly unusual.