Experience the best of Whitehorse

Whitehorse lies on the Yukon River in the south of the territory, beneath wooded ridges, and was a rest stop for prospectors on the way to the Klondike in 1898. Its name came from the rapids that once ran through Miles Canyon, said to look like the manes of white horses. The SS Klondike, a restored sternwheeler, rests on the riverbank as a reminder of the river-boat era.

Miles Canyon, a gorge with dark basalt walls, can be crossed on a footbridge, and the fishway beside the dam lets chinook salmon climb the river in late summer. The Yukon Wildlife Preserve shows muskoxen, caribou and lynx in large enclosures, and the Beringia Centre explains the ice-age landscape with the skeleton of a woolly mammoth. Emerald Lake and the sand dunes of the tiny Carcross Desert lie to the south.

Bannock, sourdough bread and Arctic char appear on local menus, along with beer brewed in town. In June the sun barely sets, while in winter the days are short and the northern lights can be seen on clear nights from late August into April.