Local lore
Drinking the toe
At the Sourdough Saloon, a mummified human toe goes into your cocktail and your lips must touch it. The Sourtoe Club has 100,000 members — and yes, the toe is real.
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Klondike · Yukon
Dawson City
The Klondike gold-rush town frozen at the moment of its 1898 fever.
- Best time
- June – August for road access; March for the Yukon Quest finish.
- Getting there
- Air North from Whitehorse (1 hr) or 6 hr drive on the Klondike Highway.
- Suggested stay
- 2 – 4 nights
- Known for
- Klondike heritage · Diamond Tooth Gertie's · Top of the World Highway
A portrait of Dawson City
An essential stop.
Six hours north of Whitehorse where the Klondike meets the Yukon River, Dawson City is the gold-rush boom town that has somehow remained itself — false-front buildings on permafrost-pitched streets, dredge tailings beyond the edge, and a sourdough culture still humming.
Field notes
Three ways to feel the place.
On the map
The six places
to anchor your trip.
A tour through the icons and the under-the-radar corners — laid out the way a local would walk you through.
- 1
Diamond Tooth Gertie's
Canada's oldest casino — can-can shows nightly under the moose chandelier.
- 2
Dredge No. 4
Massive 1912 wood-and-steel gold dredge preserved on Bonanza Creek.
- 3
Midnight Dome
Hill above town with sweeping views over the Yukon River confluence.
- 4
Top of the World Highway
Ridge-line gravel road across the Yukon into Alaska — open summer only.
Diamond Tooth Gertie's
Dredge No. 4
Midnight Dome
Top of the World Highway
N
Year-round
Dawson City through the seasons.
Spring
Ice breakup on the Yukon River — Dawson's annual betting frenzy.
Summer
Midnight sun, Dawson City Music Festival, and the Discovery Days parade.
Autumn
Tundra fires turn the hills crimson by late August.
Winter
Yukon Quest, dog mushing, and -40°C sourdough nights.
Insider tips
From people who live there.
- 01
Stay at the Downtown Hotel — home of the Sourtoe — for full Dawson immersion.
- 02
Drive to Tombstone Park, two hours north — the Yukon's most dramatic mountain scenery.
- 03
Cross the river on the free ferry to West Dawson and the Top of the World start.
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