Day 1:
Whitehorse
Arrival in Calgary. Transfer to your hotel. Explore Yukon's capital Whitehorse - a city with a unique combination of pioneer values and urban sophistication. Late afternoon city tour in Whitehorse – included. The one hour cruise on the MV Schwatka on the Yukon River is optional. Overnight.
Day 2: Whitehorse (Skagway, Alaska)
Today’s highlight is a tour with a narrow-gauge railroad - completed in only two years in 1900’s – to the goldrush community of Skagway. – included -The excursion begins at a depot with the spine-tingling whistle of a working steam engine. The steamer pulls the train a couple of miles, then diesels take the cars - some of them originals more than 100 years old - up steep tracks that were chipped out of the side of the mountains. In the rush years of 1897 and 1898, Skagway and its ghost-town twin city of Dyea were the logical places to get off the boat to head off on the trek to the gold fields near the new city of Dawson City, Yukon Territories. Skagway instantly grew from a single homestead to a population of between 15,000 and 25,000. No one knows exactly how many, partly because the people were flowing through too quickly to count and partly because there was no civil authority to count them. This was a wide-open boomtown, a true Wild West outpost that in its biggest years was completely without law other than the survival of the meanest. Then, almost as quickly as it started, the rush ended and the town deflated. Return to Whitehorse. Historical - Frantic Follies Show evening entertainment – included - at the Westmark Hotel in Whitehorse. Overnight.
Day 3: Whitehorse – Dawson City
We travel on the Klondike Highway along the scenic Yukon River and reach Dawson City approximately mid afternoon. Dawson City, the legendary capital of the 1898 Gold rush, is a living relic. After 100 years, miners are still digging for gold. From the panoramic Midnight Dome viewpoint we will have the opportunity for overwhelming views of the Klondike and Yukon River valleys. Here you will see the scars that one hundred years of searching for gold has left. Overnight: Dawson City.
Day 4: Dawson City
Sightseeing tour of Dawson City – included – You’ll visit historical buildings, intriguing old cabins, Jack London and Robert Service cabins, abandoned commercial buildings and old stores that were the pulse of the gold rush capital in its hey-day. And as you drive through the heart of Dawson City, your imagination will run to the likes of Klondike Kate, Arizona Charlie Meadows and Diamond Tooth Gertie strolling down Dawson’s boardwalks. Their spirit is as alive today as it was in 1898. From the one-time capital of the Yukon you’ll follow history up Bonanza Creek(pan for gold) to Discovery Claim and Grand Forks once boasted a population of 10,000 where the Eldorado Creek and Upper Bonanza come together to form the "mighty" Bonanza Creek. View claim posts and vintage mining equipment. Your guide will give you a complete history of the gold rush and also tell some of the tales that made this region legendary. Overnight: Dawson City.
Day 5: Dawson City - Fairbanks
The Top of the World Highway is so named because much of its route meanders along the tops of mountains and ridges with endless views into spectacular alpine valleys. If you travel after the first hard frost – usually in mid August, the hills turn colors so brilliant that it seems almost unreal. Lunch stopover in Tok, Alaska. The community originated as an Alaska Road Commission camp for the construction of the Alaska - and Glenn Highways in the 1940s. The Tok Race of Champions Sled Dog Race is one of the oldest in the state and takes place in March. Tok is often referred to as the "Dog Mushing Capital of Alaska". We will attend a Sled dog demonstration. We continue to Fairbanks. Overnight in Fairbanks.
Day 6: Fairbanks – Denali National Park
Morning sightseeing tour in Fairbanks – included -. It sprawls, broad and flat, along big highways and the Chena. It's a friendly, easygoing town, but one where people still take gold and their independence seriously and they're still prospecting and mining around here. We visit the sights of Alaskas second largest city including the famous Fairbanks University Museum. This rich, interdisciplinary on-campus museum, long one of Alaska's best, will open a spectacular new expansion in 2006 that promises to make a stir well beyond the state. First, the original part of the museum: Alaska's best natural history collection and its most scholarly, with information presented at advanced as well as elementary levels. Some of the objects have a real wow factor, such as Blue Babe, the mummified steppe bison; a 5,400-pound copper nugget; and the state's largest public display of gold. We continue for a exciting river boat cruise – included - The Discovery III belongs to the pioneering Binkley family, which has been in the riverboat business since the Klondike gold rush and have run this attraction since 1950. The Discovery is a real stern-wheeler, a 156-foot steel vessel carrying 700 passengers on as many as three trips a day. There's nothing intimate or spontaneous about the 3 1/2-hour ride, which mostly carries package-tour passengers off fleets of buses, but the Binkleys still provide a diverting outing that doesn't feel cheap or phony. After loading at a landing with shops off Dale Road, near the airport, the boat cruises down the Chena and up the Tanana past demonstrations on shore -- among others, a Bush plane taking off and landing, fish-cutting at a Native fish camp, and a musher's dog yard. Finally, the vessel pulls up at the bank for an hour-long tour of a mock Athabaskan village. Late afternoon departure from Fairbanks to Denali National Park. Evening at leisure. Overnight: Denali National Park.
Day 7: Denali National Park
Denali’s dynamic glaciated landscape supports a diversity of wildlife with grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, Dall sheep and moose. Summer slopes are graced with birds and wildflowers. You may enjoy sightseeing, backpacking, mountaineering, and natural research opportunities. Whether climbing or admiring, the crowning jewel of North America’s highest peak is the awe inspiring 20,320 foot Mount McKinley. Your tour includes 2 full-day passes to explore the park with the shuttle busses at your own pace. Overnight Denali National Park.
Day 8: Denali National Park
A goal for many visitors to the park is to see the "big five." On a ride along the park road you can see a moose browsing in a stand of willow, caribou resting on a snow patch to avoid insects, Dall sheep high on the hillsides, a wolf trotting across the tundra, or a grizzly bear feeding on ripening blueberries. You may also decide to attend of the ranger programs who emphasis on Alaskan Sled Dogs. The sled dogs of Denali have been important to the park for so long that they have become a part of the resource, and a cultural tradition worthy of protection. The dogs and the kennels where they live represent important pieces of American history: cultural and native significance, the pioneer experience in the far north and the history of Alaska’s first national park. Overnight: Denali National Park.
Day 9: Denali National Park – Wrangell St.Elias National Park
Drive on the scenic Denali Highway and along the mighty Alaska Mountain Range towards the magnificent Wrangell St Elias National Park. This section has the most extraordinary scenery - broad vistas, the Delta River, amazing alpine lakes including long Summit Lake, and many views of the trans-Alaska pipeline. Today you will stay at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge featuring spectacular mountain views and breathtaking scenery of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The Copper River Princess is situated on 200 acres at the junction of the Klutina and Copper Rivers. This premier Lodge features 85 rooms and suites with either mountain or forest views; a two-level dining area with excellent mountain and valley views; and the focal point of the Lodge- the Wrangell Room - with a staircase that takes you to the mezzanine level where you can relax and enjoy the majestic scenery provided by a two story wall of windows. Located just four miles from the Wrangell-St. Elias visitor's center, this true wilderness retreat offers a host of outdoor activities to explore the area with an array of excursions. Overnight: Wrangell St. Elias.
Day 10: Valdez – Prince William Sound Cruise – Kenai Fjords National Park
Big events have shaped Valdez. The deep-water port, at the head of a long, dramatic fjord, first developed with the 1898 Klondike gold rush and an ill-fated attempt to establish an alternative route to the gold fields from here. Later, the port and the Richardson Highway, which connected Valdez to the rest of the state, served a key role in supplying materials during World War II. On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, all of that was erased when North America's greatest recorded earthquake occurred under Miners Lake, west of town off a northern fjord of Prince William Sound. It set off an underwater landslide that caused a huge wave to sweep over the waterfront and kill 32 people. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moved the town, rebuilding a drab replacement in a safer location that slowly filled with nondescript modern buildings. The construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline, completed in 1977, brought a new economic boom to Valdez and enduring economic prosperity as tankers came to fill with the oil. Then, on March 24, 1989, on Good Friday 25 years after the earthquake, the tanker Exxon Valdez, on its way south, hit the clearly marked Bligh Reef, causing the largest and most environmentally costly oil spill ever in North America. The spill cleanup added another economic boom. More than 15 years later, some wildlife populations have recovered and some have not, although visible signs of the spill are difficult to find. Overnight: Seward.
Day 11: Seward – Anchorage
Morning: attend one of Alaska’s most popular and spectacular wildlife and glacier cruise! Kenai Fjords National Park boasts abundant wildlife, alpine and tidewater glaciers. Departure: 08:00 – 14:00 Tours are fully narrated by an accredited wildlife interpreter and include a visit to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – home to a large variety of whales, sea lions, sea otters and more. After returning your trip continues along Turnagain Arm, a body of water featuring the world's second highest tides at over 30 feet. Beluga whales can often be seen following salmon on the incoming tide, and Dall Sheep frequent the rocky mountainsides. Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight: Anchorage.
Day 12: Anchorage (Departure Day)
Morning: Let our tour escort show you some of Anchorage’s historical points of interest within a 2-hour tour through this sprawling city of over 250,000 full-time residents – included -. Watch for attractions like the Log Cabin Visitor Center and its Crossroads of the World Signpost, Ship Creek Viewpoint overlooking Cook Inlet and the Alaska Railroad Depot, Resolution Park with its Captain Cook Monument, and the Museum of History & Art. The highlight of the tour will be a visit to the world renowned 25-acre Alaska Native Heritage Center displaying several interactive exhibits developed in recognition and tribute to the distinct culture of the Alaskan people. This unique opportunity allows you to see traditional customs displayed in basketry, dance, boat making, and beadwork. Step outside and learn about five distinct lifestyles by exploring model village homes set around a lake. Your Alaska Highway journey ends with a transfer to the airport. Program extensions are available.
