White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

In 1897 news of gold on the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon set off one of history's last great gold rushes. Tens of thousands of hopefuls sailed north up the Inside Passage and landed at Skagway and its neighbor Dyea, because from here two trails, the White Pass and the Chilkoot, crossed the Coast Mountains toward the goldfields.

Both trails were ordeals. The White Pass earned the name Dead Horse Trail after some three thousand pack animals were driven to death on its steep, muddy grades. Canadian authorities required each person to bring a literal ton of supplies to survive the year, so stampeders had to relay their outfits over the pass in load after load, a heartbreaking, months-long grind.

This coast is the homeland of the Tlingit, and the Chilkat and Chilkoot Tlingit had long controlled the mountain trade routes to the interior. The gold rush swept over that world in a matter of months, and the Tlingit remain part of this region today.

Skagway itself became a lawless boomtown, briefly ruled by the con man Jefferson Randolph Soapy Smith and his gang, until a shootout in 1898 left both Smith and the townsman Frank Reid dead. Within a few years the easy gold was gone and the crowds moved on, but the railroad they helped inspire remained.

Even as the stampede raged, backers saw that a railroad over the pass would beat any trail. Construction began in 1898, and crews numbering in the thousands attacked the mountains with hand tools, black powder, and later dynamite, in fog, snow, and cold.

The engineering was audacious: a narrow, three-foot gauge that could bend around tight mountain curves, cliffside cuts carved into sheer granite, tunnels bored through the rock, and trestles flung across deep gorges. The line reached the White Pass summit in early 1899 and pushed on to Whitehorse in the Yukon by 1900, a remarkably fast completion for such terrain.

The White Pass and Yukon Route is honored as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, sharing that distinction with the Panama Canal and the Eiffel Tower. Much of the original grade, tunnels, and steel are still what the train rides on today.

From the depot on Skagway's main street, the train sets out along the fjord and begins to climb, and the drama builds quickly. It threads through Tunnel Mountain, crosses high above Glacier Gorge, passes Bridal Veil Falls and the towering face of the mountains, and offers a glimpse of the old Trail of '98 worn into the rock, where you can still make out the path the stampeders trudged.

Vintage and vintage-style parlor cars, some with open platforms, carry a mix of narration and simple gawking as the country unfolds. Near the summit the trees give way to a stark alpine world of rock, snow, and small tarns, and the train reaches White Pass at the U.S. and Canada border before starting back down.

Different excursions run different distances, some turning around at the summit, others continuing deeper toward Fraser, British Columbia, or connecting toward the Yukon. Because portions cross into Canada, some trips have passport requirements worth checking when you book.

Summer is the operating season and the busiest, when Skagway fills with visitors and the railway runs its fullest schedule. Long daylight and (relatively) settled weather make it the reliable time to ride, and popular departures sell out.

Late spring and early fall bookend the season with fewer crowds and a chance of fresh snow high on the pass, which can make the alpine stretch especially striking. Weather at the summit is unpredictable in any month.

In winter the passenger excursions generally pause, and Skagway settles into a quiet, small-town off-season, though the rail line and its history remain the heart of what the town is about.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, based in Skagway in southeastern Alaska, is a historic and spectacularly scenic narrow-gauge railroad that climbs from the coast up into the mountains, following the route of the Klondike gold rush. Built during the gold-rush era to carry prospectors and freight over the rugged White Pass toward the Yukon goldfields, the railroad today carries visitors on breathtaking excursions through dramatic mountain scenery, past cliffs, gorges, waterfalls, and trestles, aboard vintage rail cars. Its stunning scenery and rich history make it one of the most beloved train rides in the world. A magnificent and historic railway journey, it delights visitors. With its scenery and history, the railroad offers a spectacular destination in Alaska.

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was built during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the nineteenth century, an astonishing feat of engineering that pushed a narrow-gauge railway up and over the steep, rugged White Pass to help carry the flood of prospectors and their supplies toward the Yukon goldfields. It replaced the brutal foot trail over the pass that had exhausted so many gold seekers. Today it preserves and shares this dramatic gold-rush history along its scenic route. Understanding this history enriches a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad in Alaska.

You can see breathtaking mountain scenery, steep cliffs and gorges, cascading waterfalls, historic trestles and tunnels, and the route of the gold-rush trail, all from vintage rail cars as the train climbs from Skagway into the mountains. The dramatic scenery, the gold-rush history, the engineering marvels of the route, and the vintage train experience are the draws, making it an unforgettable journey. The views over the pass are spectacular. With its scenery and history, the railroad offers a rewarding experience in Skagway, Alaska.

The railroad operates seasonally, generally in the summer months when the cruise season brings visitors to Skagway and the mountain scenery is at its most accessible and beautiful, so summer is the time to ride, and because excursions run on a schedule and can fill up, reserving ahead is wise. Because it is seasonal, checking the current schedule before you go is important. For the scenic ride, plan a summer visit and reserve ahead on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad in Alaska.

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad is based in Skagway in southeastern Alaska, within reach of Skagway's historic gold-rush district, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, the Inside Passage waters, and the routes toward the Yukon. That makes the railroad a spectacular stop to combine with the historic attractions of Skagway on a visit to Alaska.