The Yukon and Kluane

Kluane holds the highest mountains in Canada, including Mount Logan, and beneath them lies the largest icefield outside the polar regions, a plateau of ice that feeds glaciers tens of kilometres long. Almost none of it is visible from the road: the front ranges hide the interior, and the only practical way to see the icefield is a flightseeing trip out of Haines Junction or Burwash, which on a clear day is among the most extraordinary flights anywhere. The park forms part of a vast World Heritage area shared with Alaska. On the ground, the King's Throne and Sheep Creek trails climb into the front ranges, grizzlies and Dall sheep are common, and the Yukon beyond holds Dawson City, still a wooden gold-rush town with boardwalks, and the aurora overhead through the dark months.

What you actually see

• Flightseeing the icefield - the only real way to see Mount Logan and the ice.
• Kathleen Lake and King's Throne - the accessible front-range hiking.
• Dawson City - the wooden gold-rush town north along the Klondike.
• The northern lights - overhead from late August through the winter.

When to go

June to September for hiking, paddling and flights, with long daylight in midsummer; March offers aurora with manageable cold and enough light for daytime activity. Flights are entirely weather-dependent and cancellations are frequent, so allow spare days.

Honest expectations

The park's great features are invisible from the highway, and visitors who only drive through see front ranges and wonder what the fuss is about; the flight is the point and it is expensive and often cancelled. Distances in the Yukon are enormous with few services. Grizzly country requires proper food storage and bear spray, carried and known how to use.

Nearby

Whitehorse is two hours east; Dawson City is a long day's drive north.