Itinerary
Day 0
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.
Day 1
Days 2 to 12
Each evening, we set up camp on one of the numerous camping spots along the shore of the river, and cook gourmet foods on the camp fire!
In September, in this remote land, far away from light pollution, we will have the opportunity to watch stars in the clear night skies and maybe even a show of northern lights!
Shortly after passing by Carmacks, we encounter the only rapids on the Yukon river between Whitehorse and Dawson, Five Finger Rapids. During the gold rush, these rapids were a major obstacle for the prospectors’ wooden rafts, but at the beginning of 20th century, a channel was blasted to allow passage for larger steamboats. Today, Five Finger Rapids are a rather small challenge on our way.
Further down stream, we visit of the most famous historical sites along the Yukon River: Fort Selkirk, a Hudson Bay Company trading post dating back to 1852.
Next the White River, a major tributary flowing from the southwest and heavily laden with glacial silts, joins the Yukon River. From this point on, the clarity of the Yukon River is dramatically changed and its flow quickens. Ten kilometers further downstream, the Stewart River flow in from the northeast. From here, we paddle straight north on the last stretch to our destination Dawson City.
Throughout the trip we practice and share our knowledge of leave-no-trace travel and zero waste philosophy.
Day 13
Finally, after 11 days on the river, we have arrived in Dawson City in the beginning of the afternoon. You will have the afternoon to discover the small city ! Tonight, we will check out Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall, the oldest casino in Canada! Complete with cancan girls, you will have the chance to relive the heady days of the Gold Rush.
Day 14
Today we drive along the Klondike Highway to Whitehorse where we should arrived in the evening. Your last night in Whitehorse will be free.
Day 15
Connection to the airport or to your next adventure.
Terre Boréale respectfully acknowledges that this adventure takes place on the traditional territories of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Selkirk First Nation, Kwanlin Dün First Nation, Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.
Price includes
- Ground transportation for Whitehorse/Lake Laberge and Dawson/Whitehorse
- Motor boat transportation to the start of the river
- Meals as indicated in itinerary above
- Accommodations as indicated in itinerary above, based on double occupancy (+ $375 for single occupancy)
- The following equipment: tent, canoe, paddles, life jacket, dry bag, bear spray, fishing gear
- Bilingual guide French/English
- Satellite phone for emergencies
Not included
- Single occupancy supplement of $375
- Airport transfers
- Alcoholic beverages
- Fees for the activities in Dawson City
- Gratuities
- Fishing license
- Domestic & International flights
Booking Request
"*" indicates required fields
Tour Reviews
An adventure pure
An absolute top service from booking to the end. A friend and I experienced an truly friendly and professional trip from Lake Laberge to Dawson. Great quality equipment, wonderful meals, great discussions at the camp fire. Very good explanations about nature and the environment. It was a great challenge and sometimes competitive.
With Max and Marc top guides. The very best you can get.
450 miles in a canoe
“Three guys looking for an adventure:
We are retired, aged from 65 to 80 years old wanting to do something outside our comfort level. Something that we would consider an adventure, something we would remember and something that would be doable. Here is what we came up with:
A Whitehorse Company in the Yukon, Northern Canada, Terre Boreale, offers an all inclusive 15 day adventure comprised of a 450 mile canoe trip down the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City. I had never been to the Yukon nor like my two friends, had any previous experience in a canoe. We signed up for the September 2017 trip, last one of the season.
We arrived in Whitehorse the first of September where Terre Boreale put us up in a downtown hotel and told us to be ready to go tomorrow early.
The company, owned and operated by Max and his wife Milena, did all the prep, meal menus, acted as guide and generally seem to know everything one needs to know about the area and the river. The number of people on each canoe trip is limited, our group was two canoes for the four of us which included our guide Max, so this really was a personal adventure.
We left the hotel in a van arriving at the river entrance around noon. After lunch we loaded the canoes and started off. The first and second day were in essence demonstration days where our guide, Max, was able to assess our virtually non existent canoeing skills. On the third day he explained we were going to need an adjustment to complete the trip in comfort and within the time frame allotted. To do this, he lashed the canoes together with small logs he harvested, set up a mast and fashioned a sail using a camping tarp. The four of us completed the trip paddling the raft in this configuration. This allowed us to spend time paddling, enjoying the scenery, taking pictures, watching for bears and other wildlife while maintaining an adequate pace of travel.
The trip was wonderful, the vastness of the country, admittedly a small part of the Yukon, was a eye opener and the variety of wildlife, especially the bird population, along with some of its history made it really interesting. We had some 24 bear sightings both black bear and grizzly. Each of us carried bear spray with us and soon got used to being asked each time we left the campsite “have you got your spray”. For the most part this was wilderness camping on the bank of the the Yukon river and we only actually shared our camp with others, twice over 13 odd days. For city people, living in a tent for this length of time was an experience we were not used to but for the most part enjoyed. Food was a very pleasant surprise, Max our guide, prepared all the meals over an open fire and the variety and quality was hard to believe. Fred, on the third day out, celebrated his 80th birthday and Max prepared a birthday cheese cake, again over an open fire. The weather was a mix of cool days, sunny days, some rain but over all very doable.
It is fair to say that we had an adventure that we will remember for a long time and definitely accomplished our objectives for the trip,
A special thanks to our guide and owners of Terre Boreale, Max and his wife Milena, for a great time, good food and for keeping us safe. I have no difficulty recommending this canoe adventure to both the experienced and non experienced paddler as the company is ready, willing and able to make the adventure fun and most importantly doable.
Jim Mansley
75 years old, still moving and keeping them fooled!”
