Yearning For The Yukon

It’s difficult to think of the Yukon as a tourist destination when our idea of this territory is a cold and snowy wilderness! True enough, the Yukon can be cold and snowy thanks to its northerly location and the fact that it has an arctic and sub-arctic climate so if you want to visit in the summer, you only have a short window in which to do it. To be honest, I would like to visit the Yukon in both the summer and the winter to really get a true feel for our most north westerly regions of land, and if I were to visit the Yukon, this is what I’d do:

1. Drive the Alaska Highway – Today it’s all paved so the drive isn’t quite as challenging as it used to be, but it’s the scenery that I’m really interested in and the relative solitude the highway offers. If you were to drive the whole length of it, from Dawson Creek in BC to Delta Junction in Alaska, it would be 2,232 kilometres!
2. Aurora Borealis – Though I have seen a pale version of the Northern Lights quite far south, I really want to travel to the Yukon to experience the real deal. The changing colours and gliding patterns of aurora borealis are just spectacular and breathtaking and I would sit out in -30C quite happily for hours watching them!
3. Yukon’s National Parks – There are several parks in the national parks system including Kluane which is home to Canada’s highest mountain, Mount Logan. Hiking the park’s numerous trails and seeing the mountains and glaciers would be my top thing to do. Vuntut National Park and Ivvavik National Park are still very undeveloped, but maybe it would be nice to see them before they are.
4. Whitehorse – Yukon’s capital and largest city has more to offer than you might think. It’s a historic city having been established in 1898 and there’s plenty of history and culture to discover. Interesting museums, and landmarks; the historic Whitehorse Trolley to ride on, and the longest wooden fish ladder in the world to watch the fish climbing!
5. Dawson City – The small town of Dawson City is actually quite a popular tourist destination and was once the capital of Yukon. Established in 1896 because of the Klondike Gold Rush, gold mining still happens here today. As a visitor, I’d like to see the old fashioned buildings that line the streets, the gambling hall, and the mine tour.

Article copyright Claire Bolgil. Claire is a freelance travel writer based in Beautiful BC. Find out more about her at www.clairebolgil.com