Chilkoot Trail

Understand

The Alaska portion is part of the National Park Service, while the Canadian section is managed by Parks Canada. A permit is required and can be reserved in advance, or possibly at the Trail Center in Skagway, Alaska if the daily number of permitted hikers is not full. In Whitehorse, Yukon there is also a Parks Canada office- about 110 miles north from Skagway along the magnificent Klondike highway. Skagway is 9 miles away from the trail head via a road. There are shuttle vans to help you get there. A long term hikers parking lot is in Dyea located at a campground near the trail's start. The town of Skagway has small markets for food, but not in Dyea. The Mountain Shop on 4th street rents and sells camping gear as well as hiker's food. The Klondike Goldrush National Historic Park visitor's center is downtown on 2nd and Broadway and it is just across from the Trail Center where you can obtain trail info and permits. The Trail Center has both Parks Canada and NPS staff to help hikers prepare for the challenge. They will help you with permits and the border crossing logistics, transport, safety in bear country, minimum impact and leave no trace principles. The hike starts in the coastal temperate rainforest and ends in the interior sub-boreal forest. After crossing up and over the famed 1 Chilkoot Pass (the border between the USA and Canada), the hiker travels through the sub alpine and alpine zones. There are backcountry rangers and wardens patrolling the trail in the summers months from mid May to mid September. Trail crews also help maintain the route. In the spring time there can be considerable portions deep in snow. Avalanche conditions exist. The Chilkoot Trail is famous as one of the main routes for gold hungry stampeders during the Klondike Goldrush of 1898. People would travel up the Inside Passage to Skagway and Dyea, and then carry a required year's supply of food and gear, or "ton of goods", over the Chilkoot Pass and then finally arrive at Lake Bennett to

Getting there

The trail is accessible from Dyea, Alaska, or Bennett, British Columbia.

1 Dyea Trailhead. Is part of Skagway municipality. Dyea is 10 miles (16 km) from the center of Skagway along the Dyea Road. (updated Apr 2023) The most common way to get to Skagway is by boat, whether cruise ship or Alaska Marine Highway ferry. It is also accessible by commuter flight from Juneau. There is daily jet service to Juneau from Anchorage and Seattle. 2 Bennett Trailhead. Is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. There are no roads into Bennett. Bennett is a stop on the White Pass and Yukon Route. (updated Apr 2023) White Pass and Yukon Route, ☏ +1-800-343-7373, [email protected]. A train route that operates out of Skagway, Alaska, and stops in Northern British Columbia on its way to Carcross, Yukon. Service operates from May to early October. (updated Aug 2022) The train is the means of getting to the Canadian trailhead of the Chilkoot Trail located in Bennett City, British Columbia. There is a train/bus service for hikers five days a week from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Bennett for US$100 (2020). The bus and train journey takes 6½ hours. To Whitehorse, there are flights from Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, and, seasonally, Yellowknife, Calgary, Ottawa, Frankfurt (Condor in summer), and Juneau.

Go next

Skagway — historic port and southern trailhead. Whitehorse — Yukon capital and transportation hub. Dawson City — famous Klondike Gold Rush town.