Chilkoot Trail
The Chilkoot Trail is a 33-mile trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska, in the United States] to Bennett, British Columbia, in Canada. It was a major access route from the coast to Yukon goldfields in the late 1890s. The trail became obsolete in 1899 when a railway was built from Dyea's neighbor port Skagway along the parallel White Pass trail.
The U.S. portion of the Chilkoot Trail and Dyea Site were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, following creation of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in 1976. In 1987, the B.C. portion of the trail was designated Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site. In 1998, the centennial of the gold rush, the National Historic Site in British Columbia joined with the U.S. National Historical Park to form Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park. In 2022, the portion of the trail in Alaska was designated Chilkoot National Historic Trail, part of the National Trails System.
History
Indigenous use
Tlingit Indigenous people used the trail as a vital trade route to trade for resources available in the interior. As pressures from American settlers and the Hudson's Bay Company weakened the traditional Tlingit trading system, the Chilkoot Trail slowly became utilized by explorers and prospectors.The name Chilkoot Trail is a partial translation of the trail's Tlingit name, namely Chilkoot Dei•yi, which means Chilkoot-owned Trail. The trail's English name omits the reference to ownership. In addition, the second word of Chilkoot Dei•yi sounds like the name for the village of Dyea. Prior publications state that Dyea was derived from "to pack" or "carrying place" . However, the presence of the initial \d\ sound in Dyea casts doubt on those latter possibilities, and suggests that the first syllable had been dei.
Klondike era
The Klondike Gold Rush transformed the Chilkoot Trail into a mainstream transportation route to Canada's interior. The gold rush was primarily focused in the region around Dawson City in Yukon and the Yukon River. Of the several overland routes, the Chilkoot Trail was the most direct, least expensive, and, soon enough, most popular.The other primary route to the headwaters of the Yukon River, however, was also based out of Skagway: the rival White Pass route. The White Pass route was slightly longer but less rigorous and steep, whereas the Chilkoot was shorter and more difficult. Skagway, because of its deepwater harbor, served as the principal port for both routes.
Prospectors who chose the Chilkoot were ferried to Dyea by small boat or ferry. Soon, both Skagway and Dyea were bustling tent cities as sensationalist headlines of the gold rush spurred men from across the United States to leave their jobs and families and gain passage up the Inside Passage to Skagway.
As it became apparent that many of the prospectors who chose the Chilkoot simply were not going to survive the arduous terrain and harsh weather, Canada's North-West Mounted Police declared that prospectors could only enter Canada if they had at least one ton of gear, enough to supply a prospector for one year.
Prospectors ferried the gear from campsites along the trail, slowly moving closer to the headwaters of the Yukon. With all the equipment and supplies being transported, alternative methods, especially those with a little supplemental income, sprouted up. Many prospectors purchased pack animals, and many others paid Tlingit Indians to haul gear on a per-pound rate from campsite to campsite.
Tramways
companies soon were hauling tons of gear over the head of the prospectors every day. By the end of the Chilkoot Trail's heyday, there were five distinct tramway operations on different parts of the trail competing for the influx of gear and money in the region. Many of the trams constituted world-class engineering feats of the era.Post-Klondike
After the Klondike Gold Rush, the trail became more or less deserted. Prospectors late to the gold rush now made their way to the Yukon on the new White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railroad, which took them all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon in the Yukon Territory.In 1969, the U.S. and Canadian governments jointly declared their intention to make Chilkoot Trail a component of a Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park. The U.S. portion was eventually established in 1976 as Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, comprising part of Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, Washington, various sites throughout Skagway, Alaska, the abandoned town site of Dyea, Alaska, and the U.S. portion of the Chilkoot Trail.
The Canadian portion of the trail was christened Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site, one of several sites that comprise the Canadian national park associated with the Klondike. Klondike Gold Rush NHP and Chilkoot Trail NHS together form Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park, a designation introduced at the time of the centennial of the gold rush in 1998.
Current status
The Chilkoot Trail is a popular recreational trail among residents of Southeast Alaska and Yukon Territory. The trail also attracts many tourists from abroad. To manage demand, and to prevent overuse and maintain the remote character of the trail, the National Park Service and Parks Canada allow no more than 50 backpackers to begin the trail each day by way of a permit system.In return for these fees, both countries have full-time trail maintenance crews, ranger/warden stations, well-designed campgrounds, and have placed numerous interpretive signs adjacent to notable historical sites and objects.
The official hiking season varies, but usually begins in late May and ends in early September. Peak demand runs from June through August. Avalanche danger lingers into late May, as well as large snow fields that slow progress, whereas September is associated with rain and colder weather.
The Chilkoot is also a challenging ultra-run. The fastest known time belongs to ultramarathoner Geoff Roes in 5 hours and 27 minutes.
Route and attractions
The Chilkoot trail features a number of natural and historical sites as shown on the map. By following the numbers on the map from south to north, the hiker will go along the same route as the old prospectors. The trip normally takes three to five days and to stay for the night, a number of designated campgrounds are made. The trail is roughly divided into three climatic zones: coastal rainforest, high alpine and boreal forest. In the end it is connected to White Pass historical railway leading back to Skagway the modern port of the trail. In the following, the points of the map are highlighted with bold letters.Dyea
Dyea is a ghost town located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of the Chilkoot Pass within the limits of the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska. Confidence man and crime boss Soapy Smith, famous for his underworld control of the neighboring town of Skagway in 1897-98 is believed to have had control of Dyea as well.The port at Dyea had shallow water, while neighboring Skagway had deep water. For a brief period between 1897 and 1899, this trail and town were full of prospectors. Dyea was abandoned when the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad chose the White Pass Trail, which begins in Skagway, over the Chilkoot Trail. By 1905, most of the buildings had been demolished or removed.
Coastal rainforest zone
The trail begins in Dyea, a ghost town and campground, 15 minutes from Skagway. From the trailhead, the route winds through coastal rainforest along to the Taiya River. The first campsite is Finnegan's Point. This stretch of the trail is in flat terrain with no substantial obstacles.The trail becomes noticeably cooler after Finnegan's Point owing to cool air sinking down from snow and ice fields in the surrounding mountains. Numerous streams also cascade down the mountain sides. This stretch of the trail contains the least amount of visible artifacts. The next camp is Canyon City. Many hikers, especially those desiring a more modest pace or those who have had a late start, stop at Canyon City the first night. The shelter located at Canyon City houses many gold rush-era artifacts.
Close to the Canyon City campsite are the Canyon City ruins. Canyon City was a tent city during the gold rush and its ruins—building foundations, a large restaurant stove, a large boiler—are still visible. The ruins are accessible by crossing the Taiya River by suspension footbridge.
After Canyon City ruins, the trail diverges away from the river for the first time as the river disappears into a small canyon and climbs up valley wall, traversing sub-alpine forest. For many sections of the trail, old telegraph and tram wires are exposed adjacent to the trail. For the gold rush prospectors, this section of the trail was one of the most difficult. In winter, when the Taiya River was frozen, the gold rush stampeders could easily travel up the ice highway; however, in the summer this segment was described as "the worst piece of trail on the road, fairly muddy with many boulders and with some short, steep ascents and descents in and out of small gulches."
The next landmark is Pleasant Camp. There is an informational trail sign at the original site of Pleasant Camp, a quarter mile before the present Pleasant Camp campground. Pleasant Camp marks the reunion of the trail with Taiya River and serves as a lightly used, small campground. From Pleasant Camp the trail is fairly flat and weaves through forest and over small creeks.
The trail next comes to Sheep Camp, the last campground on the American side of the trail as well as the final resting stop before the trek up Chilkoot Pass. It is the largest of the campsites on the American side of the trail.
After leaving Sheep Camp and before the U.S. ranger station, the trail passes through a large avalanche chute. The slide has wiped out all previously existing forest and leaves a young brushy and alder-dominated landscape. A short distance after the ranger station is a small museum of gold rush-era artifacts in an old cabin. Soon after leaving the cabin the sub-alpine forest slowly yields to a treeless alpine landscape that allows a grand view of the rapidly narrowing Taiya River valley. As the trail climbs in altitude, its path becomes more improved, often demarcated by yellow markers planted in snowfields.