Tr’ondëk-Klondike

Yukon is a vast wild place, but is the most accessible of Canada's three northern territories. Unlike most parts of Northwest Territories or Nunavut, a decent portion of "sights" in Yukon is accessible by road, which includes Dawson City. 

Dawson City is not a “wild north” ghost town, but it can feel like one, with its leaning or disused old buildings. For a town born out of chaos, it’s grid layout makes this intriguing town an easy place to explore. 

Dawson City is not only worthy of a visit due to its earnest, unpolished charm, but due to the many unique characters that this city attracted and continues to attract. You have to be more than a little odd to choose to live in a place where the winter temperature can dip to -45 Celsius and there is only 4 hours of sunlight in December. 

I strongly suggest that you read late Pierre Berton's most entertaining "Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899" to learn about the outrageous characters and stories of this area. Knowing Dawson City’s very colourful history will allow you to appreciate it as more than a place with old buildings set in a wild scenery.

If you are in Dawson, perhaps drinking the infamous sourtoe cocktail (whiskey with an actual pickled human toe) at The Downtown Hotel, you should also visit the Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site and the Tombstone Territorial Park. The road to/through the Tombstone Territorial Park is rough, …

What do you think when you hear "Klondike"? Gold Rush, Charlie Chaplin, German tourists in camper vans (YES!), First Nations...wait what? Yes! So actually what people probably don't even know is that the original town of Dawson City has been reduced to a sheer third nowadays because the First Nation has been given back the land across the south called the Tr’ochëk fishing camp. I did not attempt to go over there but there are probably tours because there are dozens of tours every day in peak season starting from the well-organized National Parks office in town. The town is actually part of the national park although there is a "real" park entrance across to the west just beyond the free car-ferry crossing.

My main focus was doing historic tours. They are very informative, also telling you about Klondike today. I had the feeling that knowing more about the history we had to ask questions and luckily others in the group all did the same. The tour is the only way to visit the old buildings such as the post office where everyone in town had a deposit box to pick up their mail, something that is still done today in the new post office (apparently things like Zip codes, sealed roads and 911 services are new to the city only for like a year now). The saloon was nice, and the bank is still in great condition. I wasn't quite clear now if they have been renovated inside …