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Whitehorse -

Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon and makes a comfortable and practical base from which to begin your exploration of Canada's smallest and westernmost territory.

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SS Klondike National Historic Site -

Whitehorse owes its existence to the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800s. It's perhaps fitting then to commence a sightseeing tour with a visit to the SS Klondike National Monument. The SS Klondike is a vessel known as a sternwheeler. It and others like it were once commonplace on the Yukon River⁠—the waterway for which the territory is named⁠—carrying ore from the silver mines in Mayo to Whitehouse for onwards shipment by road.

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Miles Canyon -

The Yukon River, one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush, flows through Miles Canyon. These waters once posed a formidable threat to gold prospectors, when many lives were lost in the turbulent rapids that churned white water as the canyon narrowed. A dam has since tamed the watercourse, and today a network of hiking trails overlook a calm and gently flowing river.

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Yukon Wildlife Preserve -

Just outside of Whitehorse is the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. This is an ideal option for those traveling as a family who might not want to venture into the wilderness and instead wish to admire native wildlife in a safe and enclosed environment. Moose, muskox, wood bison, Arctic fox, and Canada lynx are among the animals calling the preserve home.

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Whitehorse Fishladder and Hatchery -

One of the more unusual Whitehorse visitor attractions is the Whitehorse Fishladder and Hatchery. This facility assists Chinook salmon on their annual run from the Pacific Ocean to their Yukon River spawning grounds by providing the fish with a ladder that they climb to bypass the Whitehorse Rapids hydroelectric dam. The ladder is the longest structure of its kind in the world and is complemented by an interpretation center that provides more details about the fish and their amazing trek. The adjacent hatchery meanwhile plays a vital role in protecting and replenishing the Yukon's stocks of Chinook and other fish species.

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MacBride Museum of Yukon History -

Anyone interested in Yukon history will be well rewarded at this engaging museum facility. It's built around a log cabin that once belonged to one Sam McGee, a prospector who froze to death and who was immortalized in a poem by Robert W. Service (1874–1958), the so-called "Bard of the Yukon."

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Yukon Transportation Museum -

A decommissioned DC-3 airplane sits on a pedestal in front of the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse, and serves as the world's largest weathervane. Another aerodynamic highlight is the sister plane of aviator Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Queen of the Yukon.

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Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre -

Beringia is the name of the land route traveled by the first people who entered North America from Asia. In their footsteps followed a variety of wildlife, including the saber-toothed scimitar cat. The center pays homage to these early settlers and long extinct fauna through fossils, dioramas, and murals.

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Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre -

Named for the Kwanlin Dün, the people who settled in the Yukon area, the center upholds the Kwanlin Dün First Nation's rich cultural heritage and history with exhibitions and performances of traditional music.

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Emerald Lake -

Within striking distance of Whitehorse is Emerald Lake, a magnificent body of water that straddles the Yukon-British Columbia border. The lake is just over 60 km (37 mi) south on Highway 2 as you head towards Carcross.

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Carcross -

Carcross is one of the oldest gold rush towns in the territory, though the region was well known to the Tagish and Tlingit First Nations for generations long before the arrival of prospectors. The historic and supposedly haunted Caribou Hotel caters to visitors, who often overnight in order to take in one of Canada's weirdest natural wonders–a desert, of sorts.

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Carcross Desert -

Carcross Desert is often billed as the smallest desert in the world. While this carpet of sand sure looks like one, it is not a desert but instead a series of sand dunes that are kept dry by the rain shadow effects of the mountains in Yukon's southern lakes region. The dunes meet Bennett Lake to provide adventure sport enthusiasts with the best of both worlds.

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Dawson City -

Dawson City is the second-largest town in Yukon. Dawson is also inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush and served as Yukon's capital from the territory's founding in 1898 until 1952, when the seat was moved to Whitehorse. Most of Dawson's buildings have the appearance of 19th-century construction to lend the destination an authentic, frontier town character.

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Downtown Hotel -

Dawson's Downtown Hotel maintains a bizarre tradition, that of serving a famous drink called a Sourtoe Cocktail. It's mixed using whisky and a severed human toe. Seriously!

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Dawson City Museum -

After knocking back one of those cocktails, you may want to hotfoot it down to Dawson City Museum. It makes for fascinating browsing, crammed as it is with artifacts and curios relating to the town as it was in its 1800's heyday.

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Dredge No 4 -

Another reminder of the region's prospecting past is Dredge No 4, a National Historic Site set on Bonanza Creek Road near Dawson City. A wooden-hulled bucketline sluice dredge that mined placer gold on the Yukon River from 1913 until 1959, Dredge No 4 is the largest wooden hull dredge in the world.

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Keno City Mining Museum -

In keeping with the mining theme, Keno City Mining Museum unearths the history of gold and silver mining from the early 1900s. Mining in Kino existed as late as 1989, before the mines were closed for good. Today, this small community relies largely on tourism to generate income.

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Watson Lake Sign Post Forest -

If ever you get lost in Yukon, you've got plenty of place names to investigate at Watson Lake Sign Post Forest. This roadside collection of over 65,000 signs features the hometown names left by forest visitors from all over the world.

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Tombstone Territorial Park -

Located in central Yukon, the stark and beautiful Tombstone Territorial Park encloses a vast pristine landscape of rugged peaks and permafrost ecosystems.

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Dall's sheep -

The park also protects an abundance of wildlife, including native Dall's sheep (pictured), moose, caribou, bears, and around 150 different species of birds.

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White Pass and Yukon Route -

Constructed in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the railroad that today serves as the White Pass and Yukon Route is one of the most sensational rail journeys in North America. The narrow-gauge railroad links the port of Skagway in Alaska with Whitehorse, and snakes though some of the most impressive and breathtaking landscapes found in Canada.

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Dempster Highway -

Actually, if long distance is your thing, consider motoring the Dempster Highway that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta within the Arctic Circle. It's a year-round route, but only the very experienced should attempt the drive in winter.

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Klondike Highway -

Alternatively, by just driving the 708-km (440-mi) Klondike Highway, you effectively run parallel to the route used by prospectors during the gold rush days. 

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Yukon Suspension Bridge -

Though technically located in British Columbia, the Yukon Suspension Bridge can only be accessed from the Yukon or from Alaska on the South Klondike Highway. The 54-m (180-ft) bridge spans the Tutshi River and its Class V rapids.

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Kluane National Park and Reserve -

UNESCO has classified Kluane National Park and Reserve a World Heritage Site for its astonishing environment of imposing mountains and vast glaciers and icefields.

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Lake Kathleen -

Among the park's many natural wonders is sparkling Kathleen Lake (pictured), seen here during a hike to King's Throne summit in the Saint Elias Mountains range.

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Grizzly domain -

Kluane is also recognized for its population of grizzly bears and the fact that it lies within the traditional territories of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and Kluane First Nation who have a long history of living in this region.

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Mount Logan -

Kluane National Park and Reserve includes Mount Logan, at 5,959 m (19,551 ft) the highest mountain in Canada.

Image: Gerald Holdsworth. 

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Yukon Quest -

Whitehorse hosts the Yukon Quest, an annual dog sled race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Sources: (Yukon Energy) (CBC) 

See also: Alaska: America's last great wilderness

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