Population: 26,418

Whitehorse is located at Historic Milepost 918 on the Alaska Highway, 100 miles southeast of Haines Junction, 282 miles northwest of Watson Lake, 109 miles from Skagway and 396 miles from Tok, AK.

The excellent Yukon Visitor Information Centre on 2nd Ave. in downtown Whitehorse.

 Visitor Information:
Yukon Visitor Information Centre at 2nd Avenue and Lambert Street; phone 867-667-3084. Free Vacation Planner from Tourism Yukon; phone 800-661-0494.

Whitehorse began as the northern terminus of the White Pass & Yukon Route railway from Skagway, AK, which was completed in July 1900. Klondike stampeders landed at Whitehorse to dry out and repack their supplies after running the Whitehorse Rapids.

The community grew as a transportation centre and transshipment point for freight from the WP&YR railroad and the sternwheelers plying the Yukon River to Dawson City. Whitehorse was one of the largest construction camps on the Alaska Highway in 1942. When the Alaska Highway opened to civilian travel after WWII, mining and tourism had a profound effect on the economy of the region.

Whitehorse became capital of Yukon  (replacing Dawson City in that role) on March 31, 1953. Today, Whitehorse serves as the centre for transportation, communications and supplies for Yukon and the Northwest Territories. More than two-thirds of the population of Yukon live in Whitehorse.

As a major metropolitan area, Whitehorse offers complete visitor services. Search our Travel Directory for options in Whitehorse: hotels/motels, bed-and-breakfasts, campgrounds, restaurants. It also offers fast-foot outlets, shopping and “big box” stores, supermarkets such as Wykes’ Your Independent Grocer on Ogilvie, garages and gas stations, churches, movie theatres, laundromats and beauty salons. Whitehorse has several banks with ATMs and RV parts and repair locations.

Attractions: