Its tagline is ‘Larger than Life’ and the Yukon lives up to its promise.
The Yukon is one of Canada’s two territories that lie north of the 60th parallel, but its remote location is not the only thing that sets this place apart from the rest of the country. Huge on scenery but tiny in population, the Yukon is both much smaller and much bigger than you’d imagine: towns are not just small, they are really small – but with big hearts and a strong sense of community. Distances here seem longer than down south, as most of the territory is accessible by gravel roads where you might not see another vehicle for hours.
One thing is certain, though: wherever you go in the Yukon you are bound to encounter something that will fill you with wonder: it could be the magical display of the aurora borealis; it could be Gold Rush towns that appear frozen in time; or it could be the characters who call this place home.
Geographically the Yukon offers breathtaking scenery that will have you saying ‘wow!’ from the moment you spot its pristine landscape from the airplane. Mountains both young and old dominate much of the area hugging the Alaska border, including Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan, perpetually under a cap of snow and ice in one of the largest non-polar ice fields on the planet. Turquoise lakes and rivers sparkle like jewels under a midnight sun that doesn’t set for 20 hours in the summertime. And a storied highway, the Dempster, cuts through the ragged and spectacular Tombstone mountains en route to the Arctic Circle where skinny spruce trees are left behind and replaced with tundra.
As beautiful as it is, the Yukon can be an unforgiving land, with a harsh climate in the winter that makes for equally hardy residents. The people who live here work hard and play hard and all have one thing in common: their love of this wild, beautiful place. Visit the Yukon for yourself, and you might find the same thing happen to you.
READ MORE ARTICLES ON WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN THE YUKON:
“There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills!”: Visiting the Yukon in September
Like veins of the precious ore that brought miners and wannabe millionaires here in 1897, trails of gold begin to creep up the foothills of the Yukon’s mountain ranges starting in late August. Autumn in the Yukon is one of the most beautiful times to visit this northern Canadian Territory and by mid-September, when Henk and I had timed our visit, we had hit the motherlode of peak colour. Everywhere we travelled, aspens, poplar and birch trees lit up the landscape with their shades of yellow and gold, standing out in sharp contrast to their dark spruce neighbours and creating a variegated landscape of colour and texture everywhere we looked. But there’s more than just leaf-peeping waiting for visitors who venture ‘North of 60’ after most of the tourists have left. Here are some of the best things to do in the Yukon in September.
4 (and 1/2) Must-Do Day Trips From Whitehorse, Yukon
Anyone visiting the Yukon will obviously want to spend time in the Territory’s gateway city, Whitehorse. And there are plenty of things to see and do there, whether you want to shop for gold or tour an historic paddlewheeler. But there are also some interesting destinations and fun adventures waiting for you outside the city that show off the uniqueness of this beautiful Territory: here are 4 must-do day trips from Whitehorse that will show you glaciers, jewel-coloured lakes, deserts and more.
5 Must-do (but easy) Hiking Trails in the Yukon
When it comes to options for choosing hiking trails in the Yukon, this territory in Northern Canada boasts an embarrassment of riches – and that's the problem. With so much spectacular wilderness pretty much everywhere you look, the question of where to hike is...
