A Guide to Whitehorse's Natural Escapes 🌿

Whitehorse is a city of about 30,000 people with an entire territory of wilderness behind it — roughly 480,000 square kilometres holding around 45,000 residents in total. The Yukon River runs through the middle of town, trails start at the end of residential streets, and Canada's highest mountains and largest icefields sit a couple of hours west. It is probably the only capital city in the country where a lynx crossing the road is unremarkable.

🏞️ Miles Canyon – Basalt Walls on the Yukon River

Ten minutes from downtown, the Yukon River narrows between cliffs of columnar basalt left by lava flows some eight million years ago. The rapids here wrecked enough boats during the Klondike gold rush that the North-West Mounted Police eventually banned unqualified pilots from running them; the Whitehorse dam has since calmed the water. A suspension bridge crosses the gorge, and trails run along both rims and on to Canyon City, an abandoned tramway settlement in the woods.

• Columnar Basalt
• Suspension Bridge
• Klondike History
• 10 Min from Downtown

Source: City of Whitehorse

⛰️ Grey Mountain – The Climb Above Town

The ridge on the eastern side of the city rises to about 1,500 metres, and the trail up it gives a full view over Whitehorse, the river valley and the ranges beyond. It can be walked, ridden or — for part of the way — driven, and the alpine section above the treeline puts you among ptarmigan, marmots and wildflowers in July. The whole of Whitehorse holds roughly 700 kilometres of trail, and this is the one that best shows you where you are.

• ~1,500 m Summit
• Above the Treeline
• City Panorama
• 700 km of Local Trail

Source: City of Whitehorse

❄️ Fish Lake – The Valley Behind the City

Twenty minutes up a gravel road, Fish Lake sits in a broad valley beneath bare mountains, used year-round by locals for hiking, paddling, fishing and, in winter, skiing and snowshoeing across the ice. The treeline is low enough here that a short climb from the lake puts you in open alpine country. It is one of the ordinary weekend places for people who live in Whitehorse, which is exactly why it is worth seeing.

• 20 Min from Town
• Alpine Above the Lake
• Year-Round Use
• Local Favourite

Source: Government of Yukon

🏔️ Kluane National Park – Canada’s Highest Mountains

Two hours west lies a park of roughly 22,000 square kilometres containing Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada at 5,959 metres, and the largest non-polar icefields on Earth. Most of it is reachable only by air, but the front ranges are not: the King's Throne climb above Kathleen Lake and the Sheep Creek trail both start from the highway. Grizzlies, Dall sheep and the whole scale of the St. Elias range are on show. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• ~22,000 km²
• Mount Logan 5,959 m
• Largest Non-Polar Icefields
• UNESCO Site

Source: Parks Canada