Arctic Summer Heartbeat | Active Summer Adventure

Duration: 7 Days | 6 Nights
Destination: Whitehorse, Yukon - Kluane National Park - Carcross & the Southern Lakes (Canada)
Departure & Return Locations: Whitehorse Airport / Whitehorse Airport
Skill level: Beginner | Group size: minimum 2 participants
Season: Daily departures, 15 July - 19 September 2027

A week in the Yukon with something different every day and the same comfortable Whitehorse hotel every night - no packing and repacking. You take in the boreal forest from the air on a sightseeing flight, meet elk, moose, caribou and lynx at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, drive into the UNESCO-listed Kluane National Park, paddle a canoe down the Yukon River on the old stampeder highway, hike the Southern Lakes above Carcross and finish on the Miles Canyon trail where the Gold Rush began. It is a first-timer's Yukon: active, unhurried, and guided throughout.

The programme runs on a private basis from just two travellers, so there is no large coach group and no fixed departure to wait for - you pick your start date and the guide builds the week around the weather.

Day 1: Arrive Whitehorse
Met at Whitehorse Airport and transferred to your hotel in the centre of town. The afternoon is free to walk the riverfront, visit the SS Klondike or pick up anything you still need for the week ahead.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 2: Flightseeing, city tour and the Yukon Wildlife Preserve
The day opens with a 30-minute sightseeing flight over the country around Whitehorse - lakes, braided rivers and forest stretching to the horizon, a view very few visitors get. Back on the ground, a one-hour city tour covers the history of the north: the paddlewheeler SS Klondike, the Old Log Church and the log-built "skyscraper". In the afternoon you drive out to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, where elk, moose, caribou, mountain goats, muskox and lynx live in large natural enclosures and are genuinely easy to photograph.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 3: Kluane National Park
An early start west into the mountains of Kluane National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 and home to the largest non-polar icefield on earth. You visit Kathleen Lake and walk the short Rock Glacier trail, which opens onto a wide view over the lakes and the front ranges. In Haines Junction the Da Ku Cultural Centre tells the story of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the making of the park.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 4: Canoeing the Yukon River
After a safety briefing and a lesson in handling a canoe, you put in at Whitehorse and paddle downstream to the confluence of the Takhini River - the same water the stampeders ran in 1898, now quiet apart from bald eagles and the current. It is an easy half-day suited to complete beginners, two to a canoe with your guide alongside. Back in town, the Yukon Brewing taproom is the traditional reward.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 5: Carcross and the Southern Lakes
South on the Klondike Highway into the Southern Lakes, where the mountains close in and the photography gets serious. You visit the Carcross Desert - at roughly one square mile, the smallest desert in the world - and Carcross village itself, a lakeshore settlement full of Tlingit and gold-rush history and the northern terminus of the White Pass railway. A hiking tour on the trails above the lakes fills the middle of the day, and you stop at Emerald Lake, known locally as Rainbow Lake for the greens and blues thrown up by the marl on its floor.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 6: Miles Canyon and Canyon City
A half-day hike close to town on one of the best short trails in the Yukon: the basalt walls of Miles Canyon, the suspension bridge above the river, and the well-made path along the Yukon to the site of Canyon City, the tramway settlement that grew up to carry stampeders' outfits around the rapids. Good ground for photographs and the clearest place to understand what 1898 actually involved.
Overnight: Whitehorse

Day 7: Whitehorse departure
Transfer to Whitehorse Airport for your onward flight.

Tour Price
• Price shown is per person, twin share (double room), based on the Sternwheeler Hotel.
• Single, triple and quad room options are selectable above.
• Alternative Whitehorse hotels are available on request - Best Western Gold Rush Inn, Raven Inn, Edgewater Hotel and Hyatt Place - at a supplement. Ask us for the rate on your dates.
• Canadian GST of 5% is additional and will be added to your invoice.
• Children 7 - 17 years receive 25% off the adult rate; minimum age 7 years.
• Departures daily from 15 July to 19 September 2027; rates valid to 19 September 2027.
• Optional add-ons: Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs after the wildlife viewing (CAD 110 per person, minimum age 19), and an Aurora Viewing late-night tour available 15 August - 30 September.
• Ask us about pre- and post-tour accommodation in Whitehorse at our guests' rates.
• All prices displayed are subject to availability and can be withdrawn or varied without notice.
• Prices are guaranteed once the booking is confirmed by us and paid in full by the due date.
• Itinerary is subject to change.

Inclusions:
• 6 nights hotel accommodation in central Whitehorse
• Airport transfers on arrival and departure (04:00 - 21:00)
• Expert guiding throughout the programme
• 30-minute sightseeing flight over the Whitehorse area
• 1-hour city sightseeing tour in Whitehorse
• Half-day wildlife viewing tour at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve
• Full-day Kluane National Park tour
• Half-day canoeing tour including canoe and gear rental (2 people per canoe)
• Full-day Carcross and Southern Lakes hiking tour
• Half-day Miles Canyon hiking tour

Exclusions:
• International and domestic airfares to and from Whitehorse
• 5% Canadian GST
• All meals and beverages
• Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs and other optional tours
• Swimsuit; towel and sandals (available to rent or buy at the hot springs)
• Travel insurance (required)
• Airport taxes and charges
• Personal expenses such as telephone calls, room service and laundry
• Gratuities for guide and driver
• Anything not specifically mentioned in the itinerary

Please note:
• This is a private FIT programme operating from a minimum of 2 participants; activities are shared with other guests on some days.
• Due to the nature of this tour, last-minute changes to the itinerary are possible and are at the discretion of the guide. The flightseeing and hiking days depend on weather.
• Aurora is possible on late-season departures from mid-August, when the nights are dark enough - it is not included and cannot be guaranteed.
• Comprehensive travel insurance is strongly recommended.

Please refer to our Standard Booking Conditions for booking terms and conditions.