Yukon TerritorySights

Sights in Yukon Territory

  1. A

    Dawson City Museum

    The Dawson City Museum houses a collection of 25,000 gold rush artifacts. Engaging exhibits walk you through the hard-scrabble lives of the miners. The museum is housed in the landmark 1901 Old Territorial Administration building. It was designed by noted architect Thomas W Fuller.

    reviewed

  2. B

    Jack London Interpretive Centre

    In 1898 Jack London lived in the Yukon, the setting for his most popular animal stories, including Call of the Wild and White Fang. At the Centre, there are daily interpretive talks. A labor of love by historian Dick North, Dawne Mitchell and others, this place is a treasure-trove. Read the stories about 'Jack,' a local dog, which Jack, the noted author, used as a model for Buck in Call of the Wild, and how North was able to locate a photo of London working in the Klondike.

    reviewed

  3. Dredge No 4

    The scarred valleys around Dawson speak to the vast amounts of toil that went into the gold hunt. Most emblematic is Bonanza Creek, where gold was first found and which still yields some today. Dredge No 4, 13km off the Klondike Hwy, is a massive dredging machine that tore up the Klondike Valley and left the tailings, which remain as a blight on the landscape. Parks Canada offers fascinating tours of this huge machine that worked something like a freak worm in a science fiction novel.

    reviewed

  4. C

    Danoja Zho Cultural Centre

    Inside this beautiful wood building on the riverfront, the Danoja Zho cultural centre has displays and interpretive talks on the Hän Hwëch'in (River People), who were the first to inhabit the area. The collection includes traditional artifacts and a re-creation of a 19-century fishing camp. Locally made crafts are for sale. Check on the schedule of cultural tours and performances of authentic dances. The striking building was designed by noted Yukon architects KVA.

    reviewed

  5. Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall

    For culture of an altogether different nature, Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall is a re-creation of an 1898 saloon, complete with small-time gambling, honky-tonk piano and dancing girls. The casino's winnings go toward town restoration, and at weekends it can get packed as locals jostle with tourists to support preservation.

    reviewed

  6. D

    Commissioner's Residence

    Built in 1901 to house the territorial commissioner, the proud Commissioner's residence building was designed to give potential civic investors confidence in the city. The building is also noted for being the longtime home of Martha Black, who came to the Yukon in 1898, owned a lumberyard and was elected to the Canadian Parliament at age 70.

    reviewed

  7. E

    SS Keno

    The voyage from Whitehorse to Dawson was not an easy one. The season was short and there were perilous areas of white water to navigate on the way. The SS Keno was one of a fleet of paddle wheelers that worked the rivers for more than half a century. Moored along the river, the boat has many good displays about travel 100 years ago.

    reviewed

  8. F

    Klondike Institute for Art and Culture

    Dawson is another northern city with a thriving arts community - although like so many others, most artists head south in winter in search of not just better light but simply light. The Klondike Institute for Art and Culture has an impressive new studio building and programs offering artist in residence programs.

    reviewed

  9. G

    Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre

    Highly recommended, the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre focuses on Beringia, a mostly ice-free area that encompassed the Yukon, Alaska and eastern Siberia during the last ice age. Engaging exhibits re-create the time, right down to the giant beaver by the door. It's just south of the airport.

    reviewed

  10. H

    old log church

    A downtown gem, the 1900 old log church is the only log-cabin-style cathedral in the world. Displays include the compelling story of Rev Isaac Stringer who boiled and ate his boots while lost in the wilderness for 51 days. Fittingly, all that's left is his sole.

    reviewed

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  12. I

    SS Klondike

    The carefully restored SS Klondike was one of the largest sternwheelers used on the Yukon River. Built in 1937, it made its final run upriver to Dawson in 1955 and is now a national historic site. Try not to wish it was making the run now.

    reviewed

  13. J

    Yukon Transportation Museum

    Hey tenderfoot, find out what the Alaska Hwy was really like back in the day at the Yukon Transportation Museum . Let's just say mud was a dirty word. Exhibits cover planes, trains and dog-sleds.

    reviewed

  14. K

    White Pass & Yukon Route Station

    One look at the majestic Yukon River and you'll understand why the waterfront is being reborn. The beautiful White Pass & Yukon Route Station has been restored and anchors the area.

    reviewed

  15. L

    Robert Service Cabin

    Called the 'Bard of the Yukon', Robert W Service lived in the Robert Service Cabin, a typical gold rush cabin from 1909 to 1912. Don't miss the readings of Service's poems by a Parks Canada employee.

    reviewed

  16. M

    MacBride Museum

    The Yukon's attic, the MacBride Museum covers the gold rush, First Nations, intrepid Mounties and more. Old photos vie with old stuffed critters, all under a sod roof.

    reviewed

  17. N

    No Gold Gallery

    No Gold Gallery is an enthusiastic supporter - and dealer - of local artists. Bombay Peggy's also displays and sells local works.

    reviewed

  18. O

    Harrington's Store

    Harrington's Store, the old mercantile, has been converted to a gallery of historic photos from Dawson's heyday.

    reviewed

  19. P

    ODD Gallery

    KIAC's exhibition space, the ODD Gallery, shows local works.

    reviewed