Best Western Gold Rush Inn
Best Western Gold Rush Inn is an economical option in Whitehorse, Yukon, handy for travellers focused on Kusawa Territorial Park and the main sights.
Guests typically choose Whitehorse for its balance of location and price; Best Western Gold Rush Inn is a good fit if you want to be near the action in Yukon.
Rates shift with the season and with demand, so the live price on the booking page is always the one to trust — tap through for tonight's or your dates' real availability.
Key facts
Around Whitehorse
Best time to visit the Yukon, month by month
The two peak windows are mid-June to late August for the midnight sun and hiking, and late August to mid-March for aurora viewing, with a lull in between. June through August is when Whitehorse hotels sell out around the Yukon Gold Panning Championships and Dawson City fills for Dawson City Music Festival (third weekend of July) and Discovery Days (17 August); rack rates in these weeks can be 50–80% above shoulder pricing.
September brings low light and low prices — often the best value month, with fewer bugs and the Dempster larches turning gold around Tombstone. October and November are the cheapest months of the year in Whitehorse, then rates climb again from late December as aurora tour groups arrive from Asia, holding firm through the Yukon Quest sled dog race in February and the Available Light Film Festival. April and May are quiet and cold, with breakup on the Yukon River usually in early May, and many highway lodges between Haines Junction and Beaver Creek stay closed until mid-May.
Getting around the Yukon: is a car actually needed?
Yes, for anything beyond Whitehorse itself, a vehicle is not optional. There is no passenger rail in the territory — the White Pass & Yukon Route from Carcross to Skagway is a seasonal tourist train, not transport — and intercity buses are limited to a few Husky Bus runs between Whitehorse and Dawson City (about 533 km, 6.5–7 hours) and seasonal shuttles to Haines Junction (158 km) and Skagway. Rentals in Whitehorse book out weeks ahead in July; reserve before you fly in.
Downtown Whitehorse is walkable and has a local bus, so a car-free stay works if you never leave the city. Distances elsewhere are the point: Whitehorse to Watson Lake is 435 km, Whitehorse to Beaver Creek 457 km, Dawson City to Inuvik along the Dempster 736 km of gravel. Old Crow has no road at all — Air North flies in from Whitehorse via Dawson. Fuel stops are spaced 100–200 km apart on the Alaska and Klondike Highways, and many close by 9pm.
How many nights in the Yukon and a sensible first trip
Seven nights is the shortest trip that justifies the airfare, and ten to fourteen is where the territory opens up. A workable first-timer summer shape is two nights in Downtown Whitehorse to adjust and pick up the rental, one night in Haines Junction with a day in Kluane, three nights in Dawson City with a day trip up the Dempster to Tombstone Territorial Park, then back to Whitehorse via a night at Carmacks or Carcross.
In winter, cut the driving and stay put: four nights minimum in the Whitehorse area for aurora, ideally out toward Fish Lake or Marsh Lake where light pollution drops off, plus a day on the Southern Lakes at Carcross. Two nights is not enough — cloud cover eats individual evenings, and tour operators quote a roughly 90% success rate only across three or more nights.
