2. Search through locations, accommodations and more. Access your cruise without logging on. Trace the "poor man's route" and the "rich man's route" to the gold fields near Dawson City. White Pass Train and Bike Tour - Sockeye Cycle The gravel road that runs alongside the north side of the airport goes to the Carcross Campground, a former Yukon Government, now First Nation (Indian band) facility with 12 forested sites, picnic tables and outhouses. In its heyday, Skagway was the boomtown gateway to the Trail of 98 and the Klondike gold fields. 1896, when gold was first discovered 600 miles from Skagway in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory. Annie Leonard, the first woman to stake lots in Skagway, constructed a 12-foot by 30-foot building of recycled mismatched lumber and packing crates. Although Skagway is located more than 500 miles from the gold fields in the Klondike, the town benefitted from the discovery because of its location along a transportation route to Canada's interior. Mile 4.4 / Km 7.1: Black Lakes - the original pack trail also went through this narrow gorge. View of Fraser Lake. 1. Its really something. They enforced this order at border crossings. A drive down the road for at least 2 hours will give you a very brief glimpse at what the area offers. This tour travels along the Klondike Highway, with mountain and waterfall scenery that will take your breath away. Just a few miles north, the road begins to ascend toward the White Pass Summit, which is 15 miles away from the start. Follows railroad track .6 mile/1 km to Gold Rush Cemetery where Jefferson Randolph Soapy Smith and Frank Reid are buried. Officially it is just the Klondike Highway, running 443 miles (713 km) from Skagway to Dawson City, but in practical use the highway sections north and south of Whitehorse are used separately. Although the nearby Chilkoot Pass had been an established trade route used by the Tlingit Indians for hundreds of years, the terrain was too steep for a wagon road. Km 71.3 / Mile 44.3: Start a 2.8-km (1.7-mile) climb to the summit of the pass between Tutshi Lake and Windy Arm, an arm of Tagish Lake. Summit Lake and White Pass and Yukon Route RR station. Spude, and Paul C. Cloyd, "Historic Structures Report for Ten Buildings," U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1984; Alison K. Hoagland, Buildings of Alaska (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); J. Bernard Moore, Skagway in Days Primeval (Skagway: Lynn Canal Publishing, 1997); and Robert L. S. Spude, "Skagway, District of Alaska 1884-1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike," Report prepared as a cooperative effort of the Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and the National Park Service Alaska Regional Office, U.S. Department of the Interior, September 1983. Top. News of the Klondike discovery spread slowly over the next year until miners began to return with their fortunes. Walking across the bare granite down to Summit Lake provides some excellent views. As a member of an 1887 boundary survey expedition he had made the first recorded investigation of a pass over the Coast Mountains which later became known as White Pass. Proposed work may include: Pavement replacement Drainage improvements Guardrail replacement Visit skagway.com for more. Herman Kirmse was one early successful entrepreneur in Skagway. Schedule - Klondike Highway Rehabilitation: Skagway River Bridge to Km 115.4 / Mile 71.7: Spirit Lake Lodge - under new ownership as of 2012. Eleven men organized the fraternity on February 26, 1899, while en route from Seattle to Skagway. Who were the major people involved? MAPS: SKAGWAY AND KLONDIKE HIGHWAY - Skagway Private Tours Km 25.1 / Mile 15.6: Find the approximate locations of the two trails on Map 1. Outhouses and interpretive signs are found here. Motel and restaurant. Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Trace the routes of the Chilkoot Trail and White Pass Trail and use the scale to determine the approximate length of each. The Skagway unit Visitor Center is open - June, July, August: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily , May - September: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Visit. The facade of the building uses almost 9000 pieces of driftwood collected from the beaches in Skagway Bay. 201 2nd Ave Skagway, AK 99840 The lake is signed as "Lewes Lake" but that is yet another error that has been accepted as fact. The great rush to the Klondike gold fields had ended by the time the railroad was completed. Km 24.3 / Mile 15.1: International Border Falls (called Boundary Falls by some) on the left, with large gravel parking area known as the "Feather / Cleveland Pullout" as this is the access to Mount Cleveland and Feather Peak to the south. Before you know it, you are in the Yukon. Klondike Highway Rehabilitation: Skagway River Bridge to Canadian Border Klondike Highway Hiking Trails If you've been to Skagway more than once, you may have already done all of the major hikes like AB Mountain and Upper Dewey Lake. Around Lake Tutshi, I frequently see lynx roaming about. By Melinda Munson Multiple risky bear encounters along the Canadian side of the Klondike Highway, observed and curtailed by Skagway tour guides, resulted in them calling for enhanced safety protocols for rental car customers originating from Skagway. The Goldberg Cigar Store was typical of the earliest businesses that merchants quickly established in the new town. Km 128.6 / Mile 79.9: The gravel road to the left leads about a mile in to Lewis Lake, seen in the photo above. The purpose of the project is to extend the service life of the highway, enhance safety, and improve drainage. How did the gold rush impact the development of the surrounding area? Playground, outhouses, picnic tables, etc. A comprehensive guide to the railroad that is so visible along the southern section of the highway. Then you pass the worlds smallest desert before coming to Emerald Lake, which is a pretty body of water that people like to photograph. 3. Part of the building's original interior walls were made of rough boards torn from packing crates. Fraser is also the point where people switch from motorcoaches to WP&YR trains or vice-versa. On the mountain peak above the sign, goats and sheep are frequently spotted. Check for current road conditions with the Alaska State DOT and Yukon 511 . Spot wildlife along the way, and don't forget to take a . William Moore's log cabin, which he built in 1887, was the first permanent structure in the Skagway River valley. Why do you think the "poor man's route" was the most used? The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon.Its route somewhat parallels the route used by prospectors in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush.. Trace the railroad route from Skagway to Bennett Lake. According to the map, what natural features did stampeders encounter on each route? Both the White Pass and Chilkoot Pass Trails were less than 40 miles long, but stampeders could only haul a portion of their tremendously heavy supplies at one time. Originally, this was the site of the final mill of the Venus silver mine, which dates back to 1900. Jewel Gardens & Garden City Glassworks is one of the best show gardens in Alaska. Those that made it to Bennett Lake at the headwaters of the Yukon River still had to travel more than 500 miles by boat to reach Dawson City. Questions for Photo 5 Steamers from West Coast cities docked at Skagway's port where freight and passengers loaded directly onto the train. What time of year was the photo taken? There is a viewing deck and outhouses at the north end of the main part of the beach (a half-mile to the right as you face the lake). Driving the Klondike Highway- Alaska to the Yukon - Travel? Yes Please! White Pass Rail & Klondike Highway - Tripadvisor Klondike Highway Hiking Trails - Skagway Tours One of the questions that comes up fairly regularly is whether or not the wonderful colours of Emerald Lake are visible early in the season. The White Pass Trail was a newer route that stretched from Skagway to Bennett Lake. Carcross - Emerald Lake Fraser - Carcross Skagway Summit Wildlife South Klondike Highway Points of Interest BC / Yukon border km 80 (mi 50) There is a pullout at the BC / Yukon border, on the east . Km 117.6 / Mile 73.1: The main viewing area for Emerald Lake, the most-photographed lake in the Yukon. (Photo by David H. Curl, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park) White Pass appeared to be a possible route for a wagon road across the mountains and into the interior of northern Canada. Without this improved transportation method, the neighboring town of Dyea could not compete and was soon abandoned. This extract from the book Fractured Veins & Broken Dreams (written by Murray Lundberg, author of this highway guide) gives some background on the mining ruins seen along the Windy Arm section of the highway. I practice fillet-and-release and I can tell you for a fact that it tasted great. Klondike Tours (Skagway) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go - Tripadvisor (km 23)White Pass Summit, parking. This intersection is known locally at the Carcross Corner. Km 105.6 / Mile 65.6: Turn left to reach downtown Carcross, which has exactly 500 residents as of the September 30, 2016, report. What function did this building serve other than a school? Skagway was never a placer gold mining area, but the dredge offers a good look at how it was done in other places. Downtown Carcross has undergone a major redevelopment in recent years, with the historic Caribou Hotel being restored privately (no opening date has been set), a $900,000 footbridge across the Nares River (great for both views and fishing), lots of paving, a commercial complex with the VRC and several food and crafts businesses, and several other smaller projects. South Klondike Highway - Yukon Territory Information By September 1897 conditions on the treacherous White Pass Trail had deteriorated to such a degree that it was virtually impassable. Travelers no longer had to carry supplies on their backs or lead overburdened pack animals over the agonizing Dead Horse Trail. Opened in 2016, the premises is well stocked with all manner of artifacts from the early days of the Yukon, and of the Alaska Highway in particular. This is the highest coastal range in the world, and one of North America's most scenic mountain roads. What were the climate and geography of the region like? Skagway and Yukon Tours Klondike Tours In any weather, this is a "must-stop". 1. He and his son built a log cabin, a sawmill, and a wharf in anticipation of future gold prospectors passing through on their way to the Klondike. Bears feed on berries and plants at lower elevations throughout the summer, with best roadside viewing chances in late spring and early autumn. 7.7 mile/12.4 km side road leads to Dyea, Skagways neighboring town in goldrush days. Carcross became a major transportation hub during the 1920s, with significant railway, sternwheeler and aircraft traffic serving the southern Yukon and northern British Columbia. How did he and his son prepare for a gold strike? The nearby Chilkoot Trail and Dyea Site are a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Murray's Guide to the South Klondike Highway. Km 57.9 / Mile 36.0: Large pullout with view of magnificent Mount Racine across the lake (7,235 feet high). What evidence in the reading indicates that Skagway was becoming a permanent community as opposed to simply a supply station for people on their way to the Klondike gold fields? On right (for northbound travellers). Realizing the time, money, energy, and endurance necessary just to get to the gold fields, many stampeders gave up their quest for gold. Km 86.2 / Mile 53.6: To the right is the tailings pond for the late-1960s incarnation of the Venus Mine. As you coast along the paved Klondike Highway on this one and a half hour bike ride, you make multiple stops for photos of the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, cascading waterfalls, awe-inspiring glaciers, majestic mountains, and other historic sites. If you plan to visit the Yukon Suspension Bridge, showing your copy of the paid edition of the Guide gets you $4 off the admission for each member of your group ($3 off for children). SKAGWAY CITY MAP. By the time the stampeders arrived in the summer of 1897, Ben Moore (1865-1919) had built a 16-foot by 14-foot, story-and-a-half wood frame house next to the original cabin to accommodate his growing family. In its heyday, Skagway was the boomtown gateway to the Trail of '98 and the Klondike gold fields. 3. Skagway Match the photo of the house to the correct sketch in the drawing. This stretch of the Klondike Highway is about 25 miles long and features more amazing scenery and a chance to see just about every variety of northern wildlife imaginable. that have been offered previously are not being offered by the new owners. Skagway, Alaska and the Klondike Highway - The Travelling Lindfields Built in 1898 by the Klondike Trading Company, this building did not house the Golden North Hotel until 1908. Mile 5.5 / Km 8.8: Paved pull-off, from where sections of the Brackett Wagon Road, built at the start of the Klondike Gold Rush as a toll road by George Brackett, former mayor of Minneapolis, can still be seen below the railway grade. The population has dwindled from 20,000 feverish gold seekers to about 1000 year-round citizens. If you are traveling to the Yukon, it is one hour later. Between 1897 and 1900 more than 100,000 people, from many nations and from all walks of life, set out on the arduous journey to the Klondike. Skagway, Alaska - Wikipedia I doubt they know the difference but you will. 2. Southeast, Alaska Department of Fish and Game The first swarm of stampeders who chose to attempt the White Pass Trail arrived at the Moores' homestead in late July and early August 1897. View Details. Still others did not have sufficient supplies or money to continue the arduous journey. The name comes from the fact that many reporters who claimed to be going to the Klondike gold fields got their stories from returning prospectors at the tent camp that was here. How did the railroad affect the journey to the Klondike? * Required. Its so scenic that it was named one of the top 10 most scenic highways in the world! It was used heavily for the rest of that year, but it was destined to be replaced by yet another improved method of transportation. Straight ahead, on the opposite side of the Alaska Highway, The Cut Off Restaurant offers lunch and dinner in a unique atmosphere. From Carcross, an hour south of Whitehorse, the Klondkike Highway travels much the same route as the White Pass & Yukon Railway Route, through spectacular mountain passes and beside beautiful alpine lakes.