10 Ways Canada’s Yukon Territory Is Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

Peer over the sheer, basaltic cliffs of Miles Canyon and imagine a flotilla of gold rush stampeders in makeshift boats navigating the swirling water below. Walk across a 1920s suspension bridge to the ghost town of Canyon City to see remnants of the wooden tramway built to safely shuttle supplies around the canyon after hundreds of boats and several lives were lost. History buffs and those who like to know the names of trees and plants will enjoy a free guided nature walk led by earnest members of the Yukon Conservation Society.

When rivers were the roads of the north, some 250 sternwheelers plied the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Dawson City. Step aboard the authentically restored behemoth of the fleet, S.S. Klondike, now a national historic site that sits high and dry beside the Yukon River in Whitehorse. Stroll her wide decks, peek in her small cabins, and marvel at the woodpile needed to power the ship. If you yearn to hear the splish-splash of a paddlewheel in action, book a 90-minute cruise on the Klondike Spirit in Dawson City. Although not exactly thrill-a-minute stuff, the tour is a pleasant way to get out on the historic river.

There’s a whole lot of shaking (and swirling) going on when panning for gold. Learn the proper technique at touristy Claim 33 Goldpanning where the grounds are filled with antique mining equipment and vehicles—a reminder that one man’s junk is another man’s museum. Pan in the troughs here (gold guaranteed!) or rent a pan and head to Free Claim #6 where, yes, prospecting is free. Bring low expectations as innumerable prospectors have been here before you. After all, the claim is located a half-mile upstream from Discovery Claim where the gold that ignited the Klondike gold rush was first found.

Why hike over a mountain pass when you can sit back and let the Little Engine That Could do the work? The White Pass & Yukon Route Railway transports cruise ship passengers and curious travelers in vintage rail cars on a 40-mile roundtrip from Skagway, Alaska to the summit of White Pass (elevation 2,865 feet). The narrow-gauge track parallels the mountain trail First Nations traders blazed and Klondike stampeders followed on their journey to the goldfields. The railway offers longer excursions to Carcross (where First Nations artisans carve, weave, paint, sculpt, and sell their wares) and Bennett Lake (where modern-day masochists stumble in after a multi-day hike up, up, up the historic Chilkoot Trail).

The gold rush stampeders, brothels and bootlegging are gone, but an intoxicating wild-west vibe still lingers in Dawson City. Walk the town’s dirt streets and wooden sidewalks and peek through the windows of well-preserved gold rush-era buildings (to get inside, join a walking tour with Parks Canada). Stop by Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall to watch the Klondike cancan dancing show and to try your luck at the gaming tables. Take your winnings (or the last of your money) to the bar at Bombay Peggy’s, a former brothel, and order a Spank My Naughty Ass martini. Or, if you’re ready for a full dose of frontier reality, seek out the notorious tavern locals call “The Pit” in the Westminster Hotel.

Although the making of a sourtoe cocktail is a straightforward affair—pour a generous jigger of booze (typically Yukon Jack whiskey liqueur) into a glass and garnish with a dehydrated human toe—the drinking is anything but. Since the 1970s, tens of thousands of travelers have moseyed into the saloon in the Downtown Hotel to join the Sourtoe Cocktail Club. There’s an oath to recite and a single rule to follow: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch this gnarly toe.” Down the drink properly and receive a personalized certificate, as well as eternal boasting rights.

True to its name, the Top of the World highway winds its way along mountaintops and ridges and serves up killer views uninterrupted by pesky trees (driving above the tree line has its advantages). Although only 66 miles from West Dawson to the international border, it’s a slow, twisty-turny ride on rough surfaces. Drivers with an abundance of time and curiosity continue on to Chicken, Alaska (a former mining town that’s as quirky as the name suggests) and, further on still, the Alaska Highway junction. From here there are three options: head back to Dawson City, continue west to Alaska, or drive (and drive and drive) a scenic loop to Whitehorse. Fortunately, there are plenty of hours of daytime driving in the land of the midnight sun.

Follow the canoe strokes of 19^th-century European explorer Edward Glave (and countless First Nations people before him) on the mighty Tatshenshini-Alsek River. More than a century ago, at the end of his journey past snow-capped peaks and glaciers that are now part of the largest parcel of protected parkland in the world, Glave sniffed that the river offered “such an incessant display of grandeur that it became tiresome.” Judge that grandeur for yourself on an 11-day Canadian River Expeditions’ journey from Dalton Post, a former First Nations and gold rush-era trading post, to Dry Bay, just a hop-and-a-skip from Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Expect to be gobsmacked by the wildness of the place, including grizzly bear tracks, some as big as frypans, that tattoo the riverbanks.

The activities may seem simple— walking through a recreated traditional First Nations village, foraging for medicinal plants, making a batch of the indigenous flatbread called bannock—but the experience at Kwäday Dän Kenji, Long Ago Peoples Place, can be profound. Your hosts are members of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation and Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, two of Yukon’s 14 First Nations that have lived on the land for thousands of years. Dive deeper into this connection to the land at Shakat Tun Wilderness Camp where a former First Nations chief and his family welcome overnight guests to experience their culture, hospitality and a blazing evening campfire.

Expect to see a black bear in the Yukon. In fact, expect to see lots of wildlife—elk, moose, falcons, mountain goats, swans, maybe even a grizzly bear—depending on where you venture. For a controlled viewing experience with near-guaranteed sightings visit the Yukon Wildlife Preserve near Whitehorse. Here a three-mile trail winds through natural habitats containing 11 different species of northern mammals including woodland caribou, bison, mule deer, arctic fox, and lynx.