Canada's largest icefield, Mount Logan, and grizzly country all in one 22,000 km² UNESCO wilderness.
Kluane is the crown jewel of the Yukon: 17 of Canada's 20 highest peaks sit inside its boundaries, including Mount Logan at 5,959 m. The park protects the largest non-polar icefield on the planet, plus healthy populations of grizzlies, Dall sheep, and mountain goats. Most visitors base out of Haines Junction, where the Da Ku Cultural Centre doubles as the Parks Canada visitor centre. From there the Alaska Highway skirts the eastern edge for 200 km with pullouts at every viewpoint.
Strategy: give it a full day minimum. Do the King's Throne trail (10 km return, steep) for the classic Kathleen Lake view, or book a flightseeing tour out of Silver City for the icefields — the only way to actually see Logan. Grab your day pass at the visitor centre before heading in; bear spray is essential and rented at Kluane Outfitters on Kluane Boulevard.
Sleep near the Kluane National Park and Reserve
Plan your days here
Kluane National Park and Reserve: what to expect
Kluane is the crown jewel of the Yukon: 17 of Canada's 20 highest peaks sit inside its boundaries, including Mount Logan at 5,959 m. The park protects the largest non-polar icefield on the planet, plus healthy populations of grizzlies, Dall sheep, and mountain goats. Most visitors base out of Haines Junction, where the Da Ku Cultural Centre doubles as the Parks Canada visitor centre. From there the Alaska Highway skirts the eastern edge for 200 km with pullouts at every viewpoint.
Strategy: give it a full day minimum. Do the King's Throne trail (10 km return, steep) for the classic Kathleen Lake view, or book a flightseeing tour out of Silver City for the icefields — the only way to actually see Logan. Grab your day pass at the visitor centre before heading in; bear spray is essential and rented at Kluane Outfitters on Kluane Boulevard.
Tickets & free entry
Entry costs $12 daily park pass. Free entry: Free for youth 17 and under · Free on Canada Day (July 1). Opening hours: Visitor Centre daily 9:00-17:00 (mid-May to mid-Sep) · Park backcountry open 24/7 year-round · Tachäl Dhäl Centre daily 9:00-16:00 (Jun-Aug).
Where to stay in Yukon
Downtown Whitehorse is where 90 percent of first visits should start. The grid between 2nd Avenue and 4th Avenue, from Main Street south to Hanson, puts you a five-minute walk from Klondike Rib and Salmon, Burnt Toast Cafe, the MacBride Museum and the Millennium Trail along the Yukon River. The Edgewater Hotel, Coast High Country Inn and Best Western Gold Rush Inn all sit inside this box. Riverdale, across the Robert Campbell Bridge, is quieter and cheaper but you will drive for dinner.
Dawson City is a different creature: unpaved streets, wooden boardwalks, and the Downtown Hotel with its Sourtoe Cocktail. Stay on Front Street or 2nd Avenue to walk to Diamond Tooth Gerties, the SS Keno and Klondike Kate's. Haines Junction, 158 km west of Whitehorse, is the base for Kluane; the Raven Hotel and Parkside Inn put you 30 minutes from the Kathleen Lake trailhead and the Kings Throne hike. Carcross suits day-trippers who want Emerald Lake and Carcross Desert at sunrise.
What hotels in Yukon actually cost
In Whitehorse, expect CAD 95-140 a night from November through April at mid-range downtown properties like the Stop In Family Hotel, River View Hotel or Skky Hotel near the airport. From mid-June to late August the same rooms run CAD 220-310, and anything under CAD 180 in July books out fast. Yukon Quest week in early February and Adaka Cultural Festival in late June both spike downtown rates. The Coast High Country Inn and Edgewater sit at the top of the range, around CAD 260-340 in peak.
Dawson City is roughly 15 percent cheaper than Whitehorse in summer (CAD 180-260 at the Downtown Hotel, Aurora Inn or Bombay Peggy's) and much cheaper in winter, when several properties close entirely and the ones that stay open sit around CAD 90-120. Haines Junction runs CAD 140-200 year-round. Add 5 percent GST to all quoted rates; there is no provincial sales tax in Yukon, which keeps things a little simpler than BC or Alberta.