After the fancy town of Chicken we finally headed for the famous Top of the World Highway. Shortly after Chicken we can see a active gold mining area from the road and we stop. One of the 4 miners comes over and we can have a great chat about how this all works.
The land is still owned by the state but the 4 of them have the mineral rights for as little as 100$ a year. And even if this area has been mined already 3 times before, they still find gold. The men stay here from april to october, then the ice gets to thick and they go back home to minnessota for the winter.
The highway got his name because the road was build on top of the mountains. Not on the side or in the valley. Like this we have spectacular views of the area. Of corse we find beautiful spots for the night. For us this is definitely a highlight!
At the end of the highway awaits the Klondike river and Dawson City. Dawson was a real gold rush town but started to fall apart after it’s boom years.
Parks Canada saved the town and started to rebuild the town for tourists. As a result there is a fantastic gold rush town with dusty roads and boardwalks, great shops and bakeries and even the signs are still hand painted. But there is also a lot to see outside of downtown: explore the gold mining areas with its mighty dredges, that dug out all the riverbeds or climb the dome to enjoy the view.
In addition to this we stay here for July 1, Canada Day. It’s celebrated with a parade, BBQ and a farmers market. Many dress up in red and white, the „mounties“ get dressed in their uniform, the ladies of the saloon sing the anthem…
And as if it wouldn’t be enough in the afternoon we can enjoy the Yukon Goldpanning Championships. In 15 minutes pros, beginners and kids try to find all goldflakes in their sand. In between we can see different demonstrations.
We really enjoy the days here in company of swiss (petitdetour.com) and canadians. Ahead of us lies now the canadian part of the Alaska Highway, many kilometers without big settlements, reception but (hopefully) with a lot of wildlife.
written by Barbara