Across the Ogilvie Mountains

Departures

July 1st to 11th 2024 – 5 spots left

Other dates, contact us

July 1st to 11th 2025 – 6 spots left

Other dates, contact us

A unique, challenging and rewarding hiking trip for the adventurous hiker looking for a true wilderness experience. This itinerary takes us through the expansive mountain landscape of northern Yukon all the way to the Dempster Highway and Tombstone Territorial Park, famous for its rugged mountain peaks.

Itinerary

Upon arrival in Whitehorse, you take the free shuttle to get to your hotel (right there when you exit the terminal). Note that we always try and book hotels which offers the free shuttle but in case there is no more availability, there are always taxis available to drive you downtown (count approximately $25 for a ride from the airport to your hotel). Depending on your arrival time, you will have time to explore Whitehorse and take a stroll on the Millennium Trail or check out the MacBride Museum.

A pre-trip meeting takes place in the lobby of your hotel at 5pm today with your guides. This is the perfect opportunity to ask any last-minute questions, do a gear check and meet your fellow adventurers!

Check our FAQ to know what date day 0 corresponds to.

Night in a hotel in Whitehorse

We leave Whitehorse behind this morning as we drive North to Mayo. This small community is right by the Stewart river which is where our floatplane will take off from.

This 30-minute flight takes us through the Yukon plateau before reaching the Ogilvie mountains. When we set foot on the shore of a small lake in the middle of the mountain wilderness and once the plane has left again to Mayo, we are alone, far from anyone or any sign of civilization!

We set up our first camp right on the shore of the small lake where we landed and enjoy the serenity of the place.

Dinner

Night in tents

Today the real adventure begins!

For 7 days, we hike across the Ogilvie Mountains, where no trail can be found apart from the game trails created by the fauna that lives here: bears, moose, caribou, wolves, sheep, etc. We are always on the lookout for these animals, not only for safety but also to enjoy the excitement of seeing them evolve in their natural habitat.

Using only our paper maps, a compass and our knowledge of the area, we make our way through valleys and passes, across creek and along ridges all the way to Tombstone Territorial Park. Each night, we get to a different camp in the wilderness and enjoy home-made dehydrated meals. We hike approximately 6h/day with elevation gain ranging from +300m to +800m. The terrain is diverse and uneven (scree slopes, side hilling, bushwhacking, ridge walking…) with a couple sections where certain people could feel the fear of heights. Therefore, this trekking is recommended for experienced hikers in good physical condition looking for an uncommon adventure!

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Night in tents

In the afternoon of day 8, after walking for approximately 60 kilometers through the Yukon wilderness, we hit the Dempster Highway, a couple kilometers south of the Tombstone Territorial Campground, where we meet with our shuttle. We then drive to Dawson City where we finally drop our packs and enjoy a shower. We then step back in time to the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush as we walk through the streets of Dawson and enjoy an evening in town, especially at Canada’s oldest casino, Diamond Tooth Gerties.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Night in a hotel in Dawson

This morning we drive back to Whitehorse where we should arrive in the mid-afternoon. You can enjoy your evening freely in town.

Lunch

Night in a hotel in Whitehorse

Transfer to the airport or connexion with your next Yukon adventure.

On this trip, we are proud to offer 100% home-made foods with home-made dehydrated meals and home-made snacks. This allows us to offer you only high quality and local food as well as to control our waste output. In fact, our trips are zero waste, we have banned plastic single-use bags and use only fabric bags to store our meals and snacks.

As we carry all our gear and food with us, you should expect between 6 and 8kg of common gear and food per person, to go in your pack with your personal gear and tent.

Terre Boréale respectfully acknowledges that this adventure takes place on the traditional territories of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

Elevation

Ogilvie-Mountains-Elevation-Profile-eng
  • Van transportation during the trip
  • Meals as indicated in itinerary above
  • Accommodations as indicated in itinerary above, based on double occupancy (+ $375 for single occupancy)
  • Floatplane flight from Mayo to the Ogilvie Mountains
  • Experienced wilderness guide
  • The following equipment: tent, cooking gear, bear proof container and bear spray
  • Satellite communication device for emergencies
  • Single occupancy supplement of $375
  • Airport transfers
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Domestic & International flights
  • Gratuities

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Tour Reviews

We made our request to Terre Boréale a week before the start of the tour and still received a quick response. Instead of the requested tour, which was no longer possible, Melina suggested another tour. The Across the Ogilvie Mountains. When we had difficulties with the transfer, Max and Melina were always easy to reach and patient with us. Max gave us helpful tips that ultimately made the transfer work. Checking our equipment paid off in hindsight. On the advice of Max and our guide Dan, we bought a better sleeping mat before the tour. On the last two days of the tour, when it was raining and we were cold, we were happy about this purchase.
The tour itself was beautiful! We flew to our starting point in a seaplane and hiked back to the Demster Highway from there. On our hike we crossed fields of snow and scree, dense bushes and ridge paths with great views. With our guide Dan we had many funny moments and interesting conversations. In situations that were more challenging, he had a patient and empathetic way of dealing with them. Throughout the tour, Melina and Max provided us with varied, delicious and mostly home-made dry food and snacks. During production, they pay attention to the use of local products.
Everything was always taken care of on arrival and departure. There were homemade muffins and cookies from Melina and always enough to drink in the van. We also made regular stops where Max would tell us about the history of the gold rush. It was obvious that he knew well the culture and history of the country he had emigrated to a few years ago. The accommodations before and after the tour were also very well chosen.

Conclusion: Terre Boréale is now a B-Corp certified (!) company that has made it its mission to create unique, unforgettable experiences in the Yukon wilderness for its customers. You can see that Max and Melina think about every detail of their tours and always make the best of it. Although the tours are a bit more expensive than other companies, I think it was a good investment in many ways. For me, the tour with Terre Boréale was one of the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding and inspiring of my life. Thank you for this experience!

Eva July 2023

“We wanted to experience genuine wilderness, to have an adventure, a challenge and explore a tiny part of this vast area. We got all of that and much, much more. From our very first enquiry, Max and Milena couldn’t have been more helpful and encouraging with clear information so we knew what we were getting into and understood that this really was a good match for what we wanted. On the hike, Max and Boris made sure we got to see some stunning landscapes, always on the look out for wildlife, and always making sure we were ok, balancing the speed at the front to those of us at the back, intent on simply enjoying being there. Whatever the weather …and there was some !…. we felt in safe hands, hands that clearly wanted us to enjoy the experience and we most certainly did. Adventure, challenge, wilderness were delivered in bucketloads – thanks to excellent, thoughtful, supportive guides …Max and Boris …oh, and the food ….. fabulous ! Thank you.”

Margaret

“Backcountry hiking at Ogilvie Mountains. Was looking for a unique hiking experience in Yukon and I saw this trip that Terre Boreale offered. From the beginning when I was inquiring about it, till the trip has ended, Max and Miléna was helpful. The hiking trip was one of the best hiking experience I have, unique to me since we started with a float plane ride to the starting spot! and I would say it is an experience of Canada’s wilderness. We saw the northern lights one evening during the trip, we saw a bear, several moose, a fox, marmots, small rodents (probably the pika), mountains sheeps (i think they are Dall Sheep). Also a good challenge for me physically too which what I am looking for. The food served during the hiking trip was good and we also have desserts. The visit to Dawson was nice too, it’s a nice town and the most north I’ve been in Canada so far. Max (the owner/guide) was also taking photos of us along our hike and he shared those photos to us as well. The photos were awesome. This trip to Yukon was my 2nd visit to Yukon by the way and this trip was worth it just like the first one.”

Gerald

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