Things to do in Yukon Territory
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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.
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Bocelli's Pizzeria
Every pizza here comes with homemade basil tomato sauce and a lash of garlic. Mama mia! The myriad of options includes pesto and shrimp. Eat in the small dining room or get it delivered.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bars at Westminster Hotel
These two bars carry the mostly affectionate monikers 'Snakepit,' 'Armpit' or simply 'Pit.' The one to your left as you face the pink building has a great old tin roof that matches the age of some of the timeless characters hanging out by the bar. The bar to the right has more of a '70s motif as well as live music many nights. Both get lively.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Coasters
Hidden in the pedestrian 202 Motor Inn, this surprisingly huge bar has one of the best staff in town. Energetic and fun, there are always specials at the bar and high jinks brewing in the back banquettes. There's live music and comedy many nights; they get some good Vancouver bands. Sunday is open mike.
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Klondike Kate's
Locals know that spring has sprung when the much-loved Kate's reopens for the year. Every night there's a long list of specials - usually hearty meaty dishes and excellent fresh seafood. It's all creative, right down to the 'news' in the tabloids kept for your amusement. Nice patio out back.
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Yukon Historical & Museums Association
The Yukon Historical & Museums Association offers quirky and interesting downtown walking tours four times daily. Meet at their office in the 1904 Donneworth House. Ask your guide to show you the WWII-era American latrine that's still not winning any hearts and minds.
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Kanoe People
Kanoe People , is right at the river's edge and can arrange guided and unguided trips (canoe/kayak to Carmacks $205/275; to Dawson City $350/495), which include orientation and transportation. There's a range of gear, maps and guides for sale. Custom trips can be arranged.
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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.
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Sanchez Cantina
Sanchez Cantina You have to head south across several borders to find Mexican this authentic. Among the surprising words on the menu are adobo, molé, pozolé and ceviché. It all comes from a compact, open kitchen. Enjoy drinks on the small patio.
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Drunken Goat Taverna
Even when it's closed the Greek music wafts out onto the street from this fun place with food from the Mediterranean. All the standards are here and taste spot-on thanks to a Greek owner and a Greek chef. A small café in the back alley has cheap and cheery pizzas.
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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.
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La Table on 5th
Dawson's most eclectic restaurant is helmed by Antoinette Oliphant, who made her way to Dawson from her native Tobago via some top restaurants in Toronto. Flavors of the Caribbean spice the wide range of fresh and tasty dishes on the oft-changing menu.
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Yukon Mining Co
A sprawling covered deck here gets mobbed with locals and visitors alike all through the season. Backed by a huge bar, diners choose from huge burgers, salads and steaks. This is one of the best places for fresh Yukon fish.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Wild & Wooly
This place has all sorts of lovely locally made jewelry along with quite fashionable men's and women's clothes. This is the place to see some of the large nuggets still being found near Dawson.
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