Connects: Skagway, AK, to Alaska Highway, YT
Routes#: Alaska 98, BC 2, Yukon 2
Length: 98 miles
Road Surface: Paved
Season: Open all year
Highest Pass: White Pass, elev. 3,292 feet
Map (1 detailed pdf file available):
Skagway, AK to Alaska Highway Junction

The Klondike Highway (also known as the Skagway–Carcross Road) connects Skagway, Alaska, with the Alaska Highway at Milepost DC 874.4, 12 miles/19 km south of downtown Whitehorse. The highway between Skagway and Carcross (referred to locally as the Skagway Road) was built in 1978, and formally dedicated on May 23, 1981. The highway connecting Carcross with the Alaska Highway (referred to locally as the Carcross Road) was built by the U.S. Army in late 1942, to lay a gas pipeline from Skagway to Whitehorse.

The South Klondike Highway offers some spectacular scenery and adds only about 60 miles/100 km to the trip for Alaska-bound motorists compared to the Haines Highway route. Like the Haines Highway, it crosses from Alaska into British Columbia, then into Yukon. (Driving distance from Haines to Tok, AK, is 415 miles/670 km; driving dis- tance from Skagway to Tok is 475 miles/760 km. Add 328 miles/528 km to Anchorage; 206 miles/332 km to Fairbanks.)

The South Klondike Highway is a 2-lane, asphalt-surfaced road, open year-round. There is a steep (11 percent grade) 11.5-mile/18.5- km stretch between Skagway and White Pass. For daily recorded road condition report, phone 907-983-2333 or 867-456-7623; or visit www.511Yukon.ca or https://511.alaska.gov.

Communities

   

The MILEPOST® Quick Reference Log
Miles from Skagway (S) and Alaska Highway (AH) shown.

S 0 AH 97.7 SKAGWAY; all services.

S 2.5 AH 95.2 Junction with Dyea Road. This narrow, winding, 8-mile mostly gravel road leads to the Chilkoot Trail, Dyea town- site, Slide Cemetery and Dyea Flats rec- reation area. Not recommended for large motorhomes past the Mile 1.4 overlook. There are fine views of Skagway, Taiya Inlet and the Skagway River from this road. Campground at Chilkoot Trailhead and camping at Dyea Flats.

S 6.8 AH 90.9 Port of Entry Skagway: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, open daily year-round 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Alaska time. Phone 907-983-3144 for border crossing (customs); or phone 907-983-2325.

S 14.3 AH 83.4 White Pass Summit (elev. 3,292 feet/1,003m).

S 14.7 (24 km) AH 83 (133.6 km) U.S.–Canada/AK–BC border.

S 22.5 (36.5 km) AH 75.2 (121 km) Canada Border Services at FRASER (elev. 2,400 feet/732m). Open daily year-round 8 a.m. to midnight (Pacific time). Phone 867- 821-4111.

S 22.7 (36.9 km) AH 75 (120.7 km) Fraser rest area to east is a large double-ended gravel turnout with viewing platform overlooking beautiful deep-green Bernard Lake; benches, litter bins.

S 55.5 (90 km) AH 42.2 (67.9 km) Turnoff to east for 0.5-mile/0.8-km gravel access road downhill to Conrad Yukon government campground.

S 58.7 (95 km) AH 39 (62.8 km) Rest area and Bove Island Viewpoint (pictured above).

S 65.2 (105.5 km) AH 32.5 (52.3 km) CARCROSS (pop. 504); food, groceries, gas/diesel, camping, gift shops, scenic rail tours. Visitor information at the Carcross Visitor Reception Center (pictured below).


S 65.6 (106.1 km) AH 32.1 (51.6 km) Carcross Tagish First Nation’s Carcross Campground.

S 66.6 (107.7 km) AH 31.1 (50 km) Carcross Desert. This unusual desert area of sand dunes, east of the highway, is the world’s smallest desert and an International Biophysical Programme site for ecological studies.

S 67.2 (109 km) AH 30.5 (49.1 km) Caribou Crossing Trading Post has a tremendous collection of wildlife mounts, including a life-size woolly mammoth. Other attractions include the Historical Mountie Museum, dog sled rides, gift shop, freshly made old-fashioned donuts and coffee. Camping is available to Caribou Crossing RV Park and Campground.

S 72.7 (117.6 km) AH 25 (40.2 km) Emerald Lake (seen below), also called Rainbow Lake by Yukoners, to west.


S 97.7 (157.8 km) AH 0 Junction with the Alaska Highway at Milepost DC 874.4. It is 12 miles/19 km northwest to Whitehorse, 262 miles/422 km southeast to Watson Lake.