Carcross

Carcross Desert is often called the smallest desert in the world, which is not quite right: it is about one square kilometre of sand left when a glacial lake drained, kept bare by wind off Bennett Lake rather than by lack of rain, so it is a dune field rather than a desert proper. The town beside it is the home of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, whose commons at the centre carries carved poles and buildings raised since 2010 in a deliberate cultural rebuilding. Skookum Jim, one of the men whose 1896 find started the Klondike stampede, was Tagish and came from here. The White Pass railway runs in from Skagway.

What you actually see

• The dune field - a square kilometre of sand from a drained glacial lake.
• The Carcross commons - carved poles and buildings by the First Nation.
• The Skookum Jim connection - the Tagish man behind the Klondike discovery.
• The White Pass railway - the narrow-gauge line arriving from Skagway.

When to go

June to September for the railway and full services; the town is quiet in winter. Emerald Lake is a few kilometres north on the same road.

Honest expectations

The desert is a dune field, not a true desert, and is small. The railway runs seasonally and books ahead. Services in town are limited.

Nearby

Emerald Lake lies north; Whitehorse is beyond it.