TRAILMONKEY'S Yukon Hiking page

Your Virtual Guide to Adventure Outdoors!

Yukon
Hiking Maps & Trails

Virtual Wrangell St.Elias / Kluane Adventure

Kluane National Park Reserve Guide

Click for full-sized images

Kluane National Park Reserve, located in the southwest corner of the Yukon, covers an area of 22,015 sq. km. It is a land of high mountains, icefields and lush lower valleys offering many outdoor activities for visitors and regional residents alike. The Alaska and Haines Highways skirt the eastern boundary of the park along the frontal Kluane Ranges. Here lies the greatest diversity of plant and wildlife in northern Canada. The highway corridor provides a range of facilities and services to suit all ages and ability levels.

Beyond the mountains bordering the highway tower Canada's highest peaks - the Icefield Ranges including Mt.Logan, at 5959m(19,545'). These giants are mantled by the world's largest non-polar icefield which radiates out to the lower elevations forming massive valley glaciers with spectacular patterns of ice and rock.

The contiguous protected regions of Kluane National Park Reserve, Yukon; Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks in Alaska and the Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia form the largest international protected area in the world. These parklands are now recognized and protected under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention as an outstanding wilderness area of global significance

Kluane is dominated by mountains and ice which makes up 82% of the surface area. The St. Elias Mountains, Canada's highest and most massive mountains, have two ranges separated by a narrow trough, the Duke Depression. The Kluane Ranges, a chain of mountains averaging 2500m (8,000') in height, are visible to travelers on the Haines Road or the Alaska Highway. Beyond these guardians of the interior, to the west lie the rugged Icefield Ranges, whose peaks soar in the 5000m (16,000') range. The giants are: Mount Logan (5,959m, 19,545') the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest peak on the continent; Mount St. Elias (5,488m, 18,005'); Mount Lucania (5,23 1 m, 17,162') and many others. Although many of the highest mountains are not visible from any point along the highway, some of the higher peaks can be spotted in the distance from viewpoints near Kathleen Lake, Donjek River or Marshall Creek.

Amid these ranges is a legacy of the last Ice Age - the world's largest nonpolar icefields. Massive quantities of snow continue to accumulate as moist Pacific air moves over the St. Elias Mountains. Valley glaciers such as the Lowell, 65 km. long, radiate from the icefields.

Glacial movements are often immense and spectacular. In the past, surges of the Lowell Glacier have blocked the Alsek River near Goatherd Mountain with a dam of ice. The resulting glacial lakes extended well back to and over the present site of Haines Junction.

The most recent Lake Alsek is said to have drained around 1850 in two days after the ice dam broke, with a flow rate comparable to that of the Amazon River. Huge gravel current ripples from this outflow, as well as wave-cut lake benches are visible along the Alsek trail, 10 km north of Haines Junction along the Alaska Highway. The flooding associated with the advances and retreat of Naludi (Lowell Glacier) is the subject of many Southern Tutchone native people legends and stories.

Park Guide:

How To Get There…

Visitors can reach Haines Junction by driving west of Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway (160km) or north of Haines, Alaska on the Haines Road (249 km). The town of Haines Junction offers all the amenities: restaurants, motels, hotels, grocery store, service stations, bakery, bank and post office. Along the Alaska Highway and the Haines Road there are service stations, restaurants and motels, some of which are open year-round.

Visitor Centers

Haines Junction is the primary staging area for activities in Kluane and it is the site of the main park visitor reception center which offers a myriad of displays, information and the well known ‘Kluane' slide show. The Sheep Mountain Visitor Center located one hour north of Haines Junction along the Alaska Highway on the shores of Kluane Lake, focuses on Kluane's most abundant large mammal. Dall Sheep, which are often seen from the viewing deck.

Kluane National Park Reserve protects the unique wilderness of the North Coastal Mountains natural region. There are many ways for people of all ages and abilities to discover the park.

Sightseeing Along The Highway Corridor

Both the Haines Road and the Alaska Highway, which skirt the boundary of the Park, offer spectacular mountain vistas with view points and exhibits. When approaching Kluane from Whitehorse a stop at the km 1622 viewpoint gives a view of Mount Kennedy and Mount Hubbard, peaks in the Icefield Ranges in the interior of the park. In the vicinity of the Donjek River bridge, other peaks in these ranges can be seen - Mount Steele, Mount Wood and Mount Walsh.

At a viewpoint 20 km south of Haines Junction on the Haines Road you can overlook Kathleen Lake and see the plaque commemorating Kluane and Wrangell-St. Elais National Park in Alaska as a World Heritage Site.

There are currently three self guiding interpretive trails in Kluane. The Dezadeash River Wetlands trail (popular with birders) starts from the Haines Junction day-use area on the edge of town and leads you along the bank of the Dezadeash River with great views of the beautiful Auriol Range.

The Rock Glacier trail at km 202 Haines Road walks you over the toe of a rock glacier and finishes up with a panorama of Dezadeash Lake. One kilometer north of the Sheep Mountain Visitor Center is the trail head for the Soldier Summit trail which takes you to the site of the official opening of the Alaska highway in 1942. The Kokanee trail is a wheel chair accessible board walk that skirts the edge of Kathleen Lake starting form the day-use area.

Camping

Kluane National Park operates a scenic day-use area at Kathleen Lake, km 220 Haines Rd., with a kitchen shelter, boat launch, and picnic facilities. It also runs a 41 site campground with pump water, firewood, and sanitary facilities. There are several other campgrounds which are managed privately, or by the Yukon Government. Kathleen Lake Campground and many of the other territorial campgrounds are operated by a self-registration system. Most of the campgrounds are open between the end of May, to mid-September. Wilderness/Backcountry trips are also available, and arrangements can be made in the Visitor Center’s Backcountry Desk. Cost for backcountry tends to be $6-7 / night (US)

Mountain Biking

A number of old mining roads in the Kluane area are ideal for mountain biking, particularly the Alsek Trail and Mush Lake Road. There’s quite a bit of single and doubletrack, from easy, to more difficult and technical. The park’s Visitor Center has cheap maps, and guides.

Mountaineering

Kluane is also known for it’s many challenging climbs which attract skilled mountaineers from around the world. All climbing parties must apply a few months in advance of their trip, and all climbers are required to register. Interested parties should request the mountaineering pamphlet and video on preparing for the expedition.

Original Pictures, Text, Artwork & Maps ©Trailmonkey.com All Rights Reserved 1997-07
Images Protected (Digitally Watermarked) by Digimarc embedding. Paws Off Without Permission!
Privacy Statement & Disclaimer

Designed & Tweaked by Flying Squirrel Adventures inc