White Pass & Yukon Route

The Klondike stampeders climbing the Chilkoot and White Pass trails on foot in 1897 and 1898 made the case for a railway, and construction began in 1898: one hundred and ten miles of narrow gauge from Skagway over the pass, blasted through granite with black powder, built in twenty-six months by an estimated thirty-five thousand men over the period, of whom thirty-five died. It climbs about eight hundred and seventy metres in the first thirty-two kilometres. Ore traffic ended in 1982 and the line reopened for passengers in 1988. It is designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark alongside the Panama Canal and the Eiffel Tower.

What you actually see

• The pass climb - 870 metres of gain in the first thirty-two kilometres.
• The blasted cuts - granite worked with black powder in 1898 and 1899.
• The trestles and tunnels - wooden trestles and bores on the mountainside.
• The stampede context - the trails the railway was built to replace.

When to go

May to September; the railway operates seasonally and closes in winter. Trains connect with cruise ships at Skagway, so sailing days are the busiest. Passports are needed for the border.

Honest expectations

Most departures are from Skagway in Alaska, so a passport and border crossing are involved. Cruise ship days fill the trains. The season is short.

Nearby

Carcross is the Yukon terminus; Skagway is on the Alaskan side.