Southern Yukon detailed map with cities and roads

Home to vast, ancient glaciers and towering mountains, the  Yukon has cast a spell on the local Dene and Inuit for thousands of  years. In the late 1800s, cheechakos (greenhorns) were drawn by the  promise of gold. Today the big lures are fishing, flight seeing, and  river rafting. Robert Service, the poet of the Gold Rush, once wrote of  this subarctic place of stillness and beauty: "Some say God was tired  when He made it/some say it's a fine land to shun/Maybe; but there's  some as would trade it/For no land on Earth-and I'm one."

Touring scenic Miles Canyon on the Schwatka southwest corner  of the Yukon, this 22,000 km2 park and reserve is dominated by sweeping,  high mountains, extensive icefields and glaciers, lush valleys, and  abundant wildlife, including Dall sheep, caribou, and grizzly bears. As  many as 20 peaks soar more than 5,000 m in the Icefield Range, the  loftiest of the St. Elias Mountains. Mount Logan, the highest of them at  5,959 m, is Canada's tallest mountain. The Haines and the Alaska  highways run along Kluane's eastern perimeter, affording views of its  lakes and mountain ranges, and providing access to its two interpretive  centers: the Kluane National Park Reserve Headquarters in Haines  Junction, and the seasonal Sheep Mountain Visitor Centre at Kilometer  1707 of the Alaska Highway. Over 250 km of spartan hiking trails follow  old mining roads and Native

Burwash Landing [D2]

The Kluane Museum of Natural History has wildlife dioramas,  the world's largest gold pan (8 m high), a rare mineral and fossil  collection, and displays of Native crafts and costumes.

Fort Selkirk [B3] In 1848 fur trader Robert Campbell  established a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the junction of the  Yukon and Pelly rivers. Today this living cultural heritage site of some  30 buildings, including an Anglican church, Mission school, and the  Taylor and Drury trading post, has been restored to its original  turn-of-the-century appearance. You can reach Fort Selkirk by charter  boat from Minto.

Kluane National Park [E1-E2] Situated in thepaths, including one leading to the Kaska-wulsh Glacier.

Whitehorse [E4] Taking its name from local rapids said to  resemble the mane of a white stallion, the capital of the Yukon is set  in a mountain valley at a bend in the Yukon River. This city of some  22,000 grew out of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, when it became a  jumping-off point for prospectors on their way to the Klondike  Goldfields. Remnants of the Gold Rush remain in the decidedly unusual  architectural mix here: ultramodern, glass-walled courthouses rub  shoulders with three-story log skyscrapers. The Yukon Historical and  Museum Association offers walking tours of the city's historical  buildings, and every aspect of the area's colorful history is well  documented in numerous museums: О The Yukon Transportation Museum houses  moose-skin boats, stagecoaches, and other artifacts depicting  transportation during the Gold Rush and the construction of the Alaska  Highway. (SThe Beringia Interpretive Centre has a collection of  spectacular fossil remains-giant beaver, scimitar cats, woolly  mammoths-and focuses on the ice bridge that existed between Alaska and  Siberia over 11,000 years ago. (SSummer or winter, take a guided tour of  the SS Klondike II, a retired stern-wheeler restored to her original  glory. From early June to mid-September, the MV Schwatka offers two-hour  tours of breathtaking Miles Canyon.

CITY GUIDE

WHITEHORSE ATTRACTIONS

SS Klondike National

Historic Site MacBride Museum Old Log Church Museum Yukon Transportation

Museum White Pass and Yukon Route Train Station

Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre Log Skyscrapers Historical  Walking Tours Canyon City Archaeological Dig Whitehorse Fish Ladder MV  Schwa tka river boat tours of Miles Canyon World's Largest Weather Vane

Yukon Arts Centre Gallery Yukon Gardens

AIRPORT INFORMATION

1-800-524-6975

ROAD CONDITIONS

(867) 456-7623

RADIO STATIONS

CKRW 610 AM CKYN Yukon Gold 96.1 FM

TOURISM OFFICE

Visitor Reception Centre (867) 667-3084