Yukon (Canada)
Dawson City sits where the Klondike River meets the Yukon River, a small Yukon town of boardwalks and false-front buildings that still looks like the gold rush of 1898.
This guide covers Dawson City and the Klondike properly: the Klondike National Historic Sites run by Parks Canada, including the historic town tours, the giant Dredge No. 4, the Discovery Claim and the S.S. Keno sternwheeler; Diamond Tooth Gerties with its cancan shows; the Midnight Dome lookout above town; gold panning at Goldbottom; the jagged peaks of Tombstone Territorial Park on the Dempster Highway; the northern lights; and the Dawson City Museum. Most of it is seasonal, running from mid-May to mid-September, so every page states plainly what is open and when.
Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall
Dawson's famous gold rush gambling hall, with slots, roulette and blackjack plus nightly cancan shows in summer. It runs on a seasonal schedule and is closed until late January 2027.
Midnight Dome
The hill above Dawson with a sweeping view of the town, the Yukon River and the Klondike valleys. You can drive up in 10 to 15 minutes or hike, and it is a classic spot for midsummer light and the northern lights.
Dawson City Museum
A museum and archives in the Old Territorial Administration Building on Fifth Avenue, telling the story of the Klondike and its link to the modern world. It is open on weekdays outside summer.
Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site
A guided one-hour tour inside the largest wooden-hulled bucket-line dredge in North America, which chewed up Bonanza Creek for gold until 1959. It is the Klondike's most dramatic piece of mining machinery.
Hand-picked: every experience here has strong traveler reviews and a verified booking link.
Parks Canada guides lead a 90-minute walk through Dawson's preserved gold rush streets, with extra tours of the Palace Grand Theatre, Robert Service's cabin and the Commissioner's Residence. It is the best single introduction to the town.
A guided one-hour tour inside the largest wooden-hulled bucket-line dredge in North America, which chewed up Bonanza Creek for gold until 1959. It is the Klondike's most dramatic piece of mining machinery.
A free, self-guided stop at the creek where the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896. A short interpretive trail leads to the Discovery Claim, set in a landscape of tailings piles left by a century of mining.
A restored 1922 sternwheeler on the Dawson waterfront, one of the last riverboats that carried ore, supplies and passengers on Yukon rivers. Parks Canada runs one-hour tours in summer.
Dawson's famous gold rush gambling hall, with slots, roulette and blackjack plus nightly cancan shows in summer. It runs on a seasonal schedule and is closed until late January 2027.
FreeThe hill above Dawson with a sweeping view of the town, the Yukon River and the Klondike valleys. You can drive up in 10 to 15 minutes or hike, and it is a classic spot for midsummer light and the northern lights.
A guided placer mining tour on Hunker Creek with gold panning, plus a quick pan-for-gold stop in town. The company runs from mid-May to mid-September and guarantees you will find gold.
Jagged granite peaks, open tundra and wildlife along the Dempster Highway, about 90 minutes from Dawson. The Interpretive Centre is open late May to September, and the park has hiking and camping.
Dawson is dark, small and far north, and the aurora is visible from late August through April when the sky is clear. It is the one big Dawson experience that is possible right now.
A museum and archives in the Old Territorial Administration Building on Fifth Avenue, telling the story of the Klondike and its link to the modern world. It is open on weekdays outside summer.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Historic district, Third Avenue
A 40-room hotel on Third Avenue in the middle of Dawson's historic district, with a dining room, a lounge, a covered summer deck, free parking and a free airport shuttle on request.
Check rates →Historic district, Second Avenue
A 59-room year-round hotel at 1026 Second Avenue, home of the Sour Dough Saloon and its Sourtoe Cocktail, with free parking, free Wi-Fi, a free airport shuttle on request and a 24-hour front desk.
Check rates →Fifth Avenue and Harper Street
A family-run boutique hotel at Fifth Avenue and Harper Street, open since 1998, with 20 rooms in the main building, a barbecue restaurant and a quiet, comfortable feel.
Check rates →Historic district, Third Avenue
A ten-room, self-service lodge at 1057 Third Avenue with queen rooms, rain showers, tea and coffee, keyless entry and a strong focus on sustainability. It is open year round.
Check rates →Historic district, Third Avenue
A 19-room boutique hotel at 1054 Third Avenue, open seasonally from May to September, with air-conditioned rooms, premium king rooms and a cocktail lounge close to Diamond Tooth Gerties.
Check rates →What to book ahead, how to get to Dawson City, how many days to allow and where the headline sights fit, for a first visit to the Klondike.
Which Dawson City hotels are open in winter, which are summer only, and how the historic district, Third Avenue and Fifth Avenue compare.
