(via highway) Originally the transfer point from rail to steamboat; today the major transportation, trading and government hub of the Yukon. |
Historic Yukon town has a gold rush general store, the steam engine Duchess, and a WP&YR train station visitors’ center. |
30,000 stampeders spent the winter of 1898-1899, building makeshift rafts and boats to take them across Lake Bennett and down the Yukon River to the goldfields. |
Transfer location for motorcoach connections to the Klondike Highway. Site of Canadian Customs. |
2,865 feet (873 meters). Here at the U.S./Canadian border, mounted police waved on stampeders with a ton of supplies, needed for one year in the north. |
As the train emerges from the tunnel, see visible remains of this famous trail, a primary route from Skagway to the goldfields. |
In 1969 this 675-foot tunnel was driven through the mountain and a new bridge was built to replace the steel bridge. |
Constructed in 1901, this was the tallest cantilever bridge in the world. Used until 1969. |
3,000 pack animals, victims of neglect by stampeders and overloading, met their end in the stampede of ’98. |
Seventeen miles up into the mountains from Skagway, you’ll have an unparalleled view of Lynn Canal, Mt. Harding and the Chilkat Range. Favorite for early photographers. |
The yawning chasm of Glacier Gorge, disappears into Tunnel Mountain, 1,000 feet above the floor of the gulch. |
Once a stopping place for thirsty steam engines on the uphill grade. Railroad section crew lived here and maintained the railbed. |
Named for Michael J. Heney, WP&YR contractor. Freight was transferred down a steep tramway to waiting packhorses at White Pass City in the valley below to be carried to the summit. |
Beautiful waterfall cascades 6,000 feet from the glaciers on Mt. Cleveland and Mt. Clifford. |
On August 3, 1898, a blasting accident buried two railroad workers under a 100-ton granite rock. The black cross marks their resting place. |
“On to Alaska with Buchanan” has been a sightseeing attraction for over 70 years. The sign on the far wall of the canyon was painted by the Buchanan Boys Tour Group, brought from Detroit each year to visit Skagway, circa 1920-30. |
Wagon road was advertised as an “easy” through route across White Pass. The toll was high: 2¢ a pound for freight, $1 for each horse, $10 a wagon. |
A photo favorite! Excellent view down the lower valley to Skagway, with Mt. Harding and Harding Glacier forming a dramatic backdrop. |
Crossing the east fork of the Skagway River; nearby Denver Glacier Trail, a favorite local hike, leads to the base of the glacier. The donated WP&YR red caboose “cabin” can be rented through the U.S. Forest Service. |
Resting place for early Skagway residents, Gold Rush gangster Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith and hero Frank Reid, died in a final shootout. |
| The maintenance shops where the railroad repairs and restores its engines and rolling stock. |
From Skagway an army of hopeful gold seekers began the 45-mile trek over White Pass toward the Klondike goldfields. |
