Dawson City
Dawson City is a historical town of 2,270 people (2021) in Yukon. It invites visitors to celebrate its heritage as a late 19th-century gold rush town, with frontier buildings and boardwalks, saloons, and a vintage sternwheeler.
Understand
History
In prehistoric times the area was used for agriculture by the Hän-speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and their forebears. The heart of their homeland was Tr'ochëk, a fishing camp at the confluence of the Klondike River and Yukon River, now a National Historic Site of Canada, just across the Klondike River from modern Dawson City. This site was also an important summer gathering spot and a base for moose-hunting on the Klondike Valley.
The current settlement was founded by Joseph Ladue and named in January 1897 after noted Canadian geologist George M. Dawson, who had explored and mapped the region in 1887. It served as Yukon's capital from the territory's founding in 1898 until 1952, when the seat was moved to Whitehorse.
Dawson City and port of entry Skagway in Alaska were the centre of the Klondike Gold Rush. It began in 1896 and changed the First Nations camp into a thriving city of 40,000 by 1898. By 1899, the gold rush had ended and the town's population plummeted as all but 8,000 people left. When Dawson was incorporated as a city in 1902, the population was under 5,000. St. Paul's Anglican Church was built that year, and is a national historic site.
The population dropped after World War II when the Alaska Highway bypassed it 480 km to the south. The economic damage to Dawson City was such that Whitehorse, the highway's hub, replaced it as territorial capital in 1953. Dawson City's population languished around the 600–900 mark through the 1960s and 1970s, but has risen and held stable since then. The high price of gold has made modern placer mining operations profitable, and the growth of the tourism industry has encouraged development of facilities. In the early 1950s, Dawson was linked by road to Alaska, and in fall 1955, with Whitehorse along a road that now forms part of the Klondike Highway.
The City of Dawson and the nearby ghost town of Forty Mile (together with Skagway) are featured prominently in the novels and short stories of American author Jack London, including The Call of the Wild. London lived in the Dawson area from October 1897 to June 1898. Other writers who lived in and wrote of Dawson City include Pierre Berton and the poet Robert Service.
Climate
Dawson City has a subarctic climate. The average temperature in July is 15.7 °C (60.3 °F) and in January is −26.0 °C (−14.8 °F). It experiences a wide range of temperatures surpassing 30 °C (86 °F) in most summers and dropping below −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter.
Visitor information
- 1 Dawson City Visitor Information Centre, 1102 Klondike Hwy, ☏ +1 867 993-5566.
Get in
By car
Dawson City is accessible by Highway 9 (Top of the World Highway), if you are travelling east out of Alaska.
Dawson City can also be reached on Highway 2 (Klondike Highway), if you are travelling north from Whitehorse. About 40 km east Dawson City on Highway 2 it intersects with the south terminus of Highway 5. Highway 5, named Highway 8 in Northwest Territories, connects with Inuvik, and make up the Dempster Highway.
By plane
Airport
Dawson City has a small airport for scheduled and chartered flights.
Airline
- Air North, toll-free: +1-800-661-0407. A regional airline operating flights within the Yukon and flights in Canada travelling to the Yukon. Scheduled flights to Dawson City from Old Crow, Inuvik (1.25 hours), and Whitehorse ( .25 hours).
By bus
- Husky Bus, ☏ +1 867 993-3821, info@klondikeexperience.com. Offers seasonal bus service from June to September between Dawson City and Whitehorse with stops along the way including in Carmacks. Travel time in each direction is 7 hours.
Get around
See
In 2023 the site Tr’ondëk-Klondike was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. It's composed of eight sites, one of which is in the Tombstone Territorial Park and the other seven in and near Dawson City: Dawson City as well as the Native American settlement of Tr’ochëk slightly to the south, Jëjik Dhä Dënezhu Kek’it (Moosehide Village) and Fort Reliance a bit downstream on the right bank of Yukon River, and much further downstream (maybe 70 km as the crow flies), close to each other, the forts Cudahy and Constantine and the Native American sites of Ch’ëdähdëk (Forty Mile) and Ch’ëdähdëk Tth’än K’et (Dënezhu Graveyard).
- 1 Historic Klondike Gold Rush Town. Preserved frontier buildings and boardwalks, saloons, and a vintage sternwheeler recall the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush days. You can visit the goldfields, the Commissioner’s residence, and a famous poet’s historic log cabin.
- 2 Dredge No. 4 (along Bonanza Creek Road 13 km (8.1 mi) south of the Klondike Highway). A wooden-hulled bucketline sluice dredge that mined placer gold on the Yukon River from 1913 until 1959. It is preserved as one of the National Historic Sites of Canada. It is the largest wooden-hulled dredge in North America.
- 3 Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, 1131 Front Street, ☏ +1 867-993-7100 x500. Mid-June to end of August: W-F and Sa in Jul-Aug. Discover the history and culture of the first people of the Klondike, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Adult or senior $10, youth (13-18) $3.15, child 12 and under free.
- 4 ODD Gallery, 902 Second Ave. Tu-F 10AM-5PM, Sa noon-4PM. Contemporary visual arts.
- 5 Dawson City Fire Fighters Museum, 1336 Front St, ☏ +1 867 993-7407, dawsoncityfirefightersmuseum@gmail.com. M-Sa 11AM-5PM in summer. Historical fire trucks and firefighting equipment from the Gold Rush era to present. Admission by donation.
- 6 Jack London Museum and Cabin, 600 Firth St (8th Ave and Firth St). May-Sep: M-Sa 1PM-4PM. The celebrated novelist joined the Klondike Gold Rush. His time in Dawson City inspired him to write novels on adventures in the wilderness. Interpretive talk starts at 2PM daily. Admission by donation.
Do
- Parks Canada Walking Tours. From late May to the beginning of September, Parks Canada offers 1 to 1½-hour guided walking tours of the historic town, Dredge No.4, the S.S. Keno, and the Palace Grand Theatre. These tours provide access to buildings that are not open to the public such as the past office and the Red Feather Saloon. There is also an escape room experience ($76.75). Tickets are available at at the Visitor Information Centre (corner of Front and King Streets) $6.75 per person, $15 for Sledge No. 4.
- 1 Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall, 1001 Fourth Ave, ☏ +1 867 993-5575. A touristy relic of the old Gold Rush days but it is still a blast, frequented by locals and visitors. It is the only casino in northern Canada. $15 gets you in the door any day of the week, and in the summer at least there are three can-can shows a night in addition to gambling of all sorts, food, and of course local beers and drinks. Must be 19+.
- 2 Paddle Boat Graveyard. Old paddle boats that plied the Yukon are drydocked, after a fashion, down the Yukon River opposite the town. To reach this you must take the free ferry across the river and walk through the government camping area along the river. Where the camping area ends, get out onto the river's shore and walk maybe 200 m further. These are dilapidated tetanus traps but it's fascinating to crawl around in and on them.
- Cemeteries. The towns has a great variety of cemeteries, including Jewish, Masonic, RCMP, and others. They are a reminder of the town's colourful past. They are just a short drive up Crocus Bluff and halfway up the shoulder of the Midnight Dome mountain that looms over the town.
- 3 Tombstone Territorial Park. The park protects over 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi) of rugged peaks, permafrost landforms and wildlife, including sections of the Blackstone Uplands and the Ogilvie Mountains. An interpretive centre, open in summer, provides visitors with necessary resources for accessing the backcountry and interpretive programs for understanding it, and several car camping sites. There are three designated backcountry campgrounds.
- Gold Bottom Mine Tours, Front St. beside the Trading Post, ☏ +1 867 993-5023. 9:15AM, 1:30PM. An experiential tour of an operating placer gold mine in Dawson City Yukon. See placer mining up close and personal, learn some Klondike 98 mining history and do some creek gold panning, with the opportunity to take home anything you find. $40.
Buy
- 1 Dawson Trading Post (The Trading Post), 966 Front Street, ☏ +1 867-993-5316. Amazing examples of Tr'ondek Hwech'in products. Beaded vests, fur mittens and the like. The shop also has all the things you might need to make a journey out onto the land with more amenities.
Eat
- 1 Drunken Goat Taverna, 950 Second Ave, ☏ +1 867 993-5868. Great Greek food.
- Klondike Kates. Fantastic soups, sandwiches and local ingredients.
- Aurora Inn. Bison carpaccio and fireweed honey duck breast.
Drink
- 1 Downtown (The Downtown Hotel). A good bar, home of the "Sourtoe Cocktail Club". There is also internet access available at the bar.
- 2 The Pit, 975 Third Avenue (In the Westminster Hotel), ☏ +1 867 993-5339. 9AM-11PM. For some local colour try the beer parlour at the Westminster Hotel or "the pit" (the dodgy-looking pink building on 3rd Ave) where gold mining fortunes and welfare cheques are cheerfully exchanged for $2 sleeves of draught beer almost any time of any day. Good local live music in the lounge next door at the pit on some nights.
Sleep
- 1 Dawson City River Hostel, Take ferry from Dawson City to the west side of the river, ☏ +1 867 993-6823, dawsoncityhostel@yahoo.ca. Seasonal monthly tenting available. Bike and canoe rentals and van tours by demand. Owner is author of the "Yukon Travel Adventure Guide" and "The Saga of the Sourtoe". Dorms from $20 (members), $22 (non-members), private rooms $48. Tenting fees are: $14 one person one tent and $10 per person if more than one per tent.
- 2 Bombay Peggy's, 2nd Avenue and Princess Street, ☏ +1 867 993-6969, bombaypeggys@gmail.com. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. Rooms with en-suite and shared bathrooms. From $99/105 low/high season.
- 3 The Dawson City Bunkhouse, 2nd Avenue and Princess Street, ☏ +1 867 993-6164, info@dawsoncitybunkhouse.com. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. Rooms with en suite or shared bathrooms. From $89.
- 4 Aurora Inn, ☏ +1 867 993-6860, aurorainn@aurorainn.ca.
- 5 Klondike Kate, 331 King St, ☏ +1 867 993-6527, info@klondikekates.ca. Cabins. $220.
Go next
- Drive south for 18 km to Bonanza Creek. This is the place where prospectors found the first piece of gold that kick started the Klondike gold rush. You will also pass through Dredge No. 4, a national historic site, along the way.
- Tombstone Territorial Park is home to some of the territory's most beautiful mountains.
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