SS Klondike National Historic Site

The S.S. Klondike National Historic Site in Whitehorse, Yukon, centres on a large sternwheel steamboat that is preserved on the west bank of the Yukon River. The vessel is the S.S. Klondike II, built in 1937 by the British Yukon Navigation Company to replace an earlier Klondike that was built in 1929 and was wrecked on the river in 1936. The new boat was a larger and more efficient version of the first design, and it worked on the river until the mid-1950s, when roads and aircraft took over the business of moving freight. Parks Canada now protects the steamer and offers tours in the summer season.

Sternwheelers were the lifeline of the Yukon and the North for more than half a century. Before roads were built, the river was the main highway between Whitehorse and Dawson City, a distance of roughly seven hundred kilometres downstream, and boats like this carried supplies, passengers and mail. In the 1930s the Klondike carried freight, including silver-lead ore, from the mines around Mayo to be loaded on rail cars at Whitehorse, and returned upstream with food, equipment and general cargo. The boat was designed with a very shallow draft, which let it run over the shifting gravel bars and shallows of the Yukon, and its large paddlewheel at the stern drove it forward. Crews of dozens worked on board, and the trip downstream took a couple of days, while the return upstream, against the current, took considerably longer.

Visitors can walk around the boat and, when it is open, go inside for a guided tour. The cargo deck shows the huge space used to carry freight and firewood, which fuelled the steam engine, and the engine room has the pistons and linkages that turned the wheel. Upstairs, the dining room, galley and staterooms recall the way passengers travelled, and the pilothouse at the top gives a view over the river and a look at the bells and telegraph system that the captain and engineers used to communicate. Interpretive displays and costumed guides explain how the boat worked and what life was like for those on board.

The grounds around the boat are open to the public, and they hold exhibits and signs about the river and the steamboat era, even when the vessel itself is closed for maintenance or outside the season. The site is on the Whitehorse waterfront, close to the Yukon River and the walking trails along the bank, and it is easy to combine with a visit to the MacBride Museum of Yukon History and a stroll in the downtown.

Check Parks Canada’s information before going for tour times and seasonal hours. The site suits history lovers, families and anyone interested in the Klondike era and northern transportation. Allow one to two hours.