Miles Canyon: a Smartphone Audio Nature Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• (Pass by)

  The following are highlights from the Miles Canyon Walking Tour. In total, you’ll enjoy 19 audio points of interest in this immersive, self-guided experience—including the Robert Lowe Suspension Bridge, Canyon City, The Yukon River, and much more!

  Admission ticket free
• 1

  Welcome to Miles Canyon! This is one of the most popular places to visit in Whitehorse. This tour will take you on the Lower Canyon City Trail to a historic settlement site called Canyon City.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 2

  FIREWEED. If you are hiking around Miles Canyon in summer, you will likely see lots of wildflowers on your hike.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 3

  ROBERT LOWE SUSPENSION BRIDGE. Welcome to the Robert Lowe suspension bridge! Built in 1922, the bridge stretches 85 feet across the narrowest part of Miles Canyon.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 4

  THE YUKON RIVER: Look down at the water. This is the mighty Yukon River. At 3,190 kilometers, it's the third-longest river in North America and one of the...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 5

  AQUATIC BIRDS & OTHER WILDLIFE: Here Miles Canyon opens into a wider, bowl shaped area. The water slows down and pools here, making it a good spot to see water birds. Many different kinds of waterfowl, such as...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 6

  EVIDENCE OF BEAVER ACTIVITY: If you stop for a second and take a good look around, see if you can spot any evidence of beavers in this area. Do you see any tree stumps that have been...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 7

  LOCAL BIRDS: As you can tell, you are walking in a very wild place! Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. One of the most common birds you may see is the raven. Ravens are huge, entirely black birds that can be huge! They can be...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 8

  YUKON TREES: If you stop and take a good look around, you'll notice just a few trees. You may notice that most of the trees you see are evergreens, meaning they are the type of tree that...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 9

  GREY MOUNTAIN: Looking straight ahead, you can now get a good view of Grey Mountain. This mountain is an important landmark for the city of Whitehorse, as it is the closest mountain to...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 10

  CANYON CITY: Welcome to Canyon City! Believe it or not, during the Klondike Gold Rush, this was once a bustling settlement. In 1897, a young entrepreneur named Norman Macaulay realized there was...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 11

  REMNANTS OF THE CITY: As you can see, not much is left of Canyon City today. In 1900, the White Pass Railway was finished, ending at Whitehorse. The rail company purchased Macaulay's tramway, wanting to have ...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 12

  FIRST NATIONS: Miles Canyon and the Whitehorse area is part of the traditional lands of the Ta’an Kwäch’än and Kwanlin Dun First Nations. Many of these people speak the Southern Tutchone language. “Kwanlin” is the...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 13

  END OF THE GOLD RUSH & BEYOND: The discovery of gold in Bonanza Creek in 1896 led to the Klondike Gold Rush, which greatly shaped the history of the Yukon. The town of Dawson, established soon after the discovery of gold, grew to...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 14

  STERNWHEELERS: If you've visited downtown Whitehorse, you've probably noticed the large boat resting on the banks of the Yukon river. This type of boat is called a sternwheeler, which...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 15

  FAMOUS YUKONERS: In 1897, 21-year-old Californian Jack London decided to try to strike it rich in the Klondike. Wanting to save time on his route up, he chose to navigate through the dangerous Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids, instead of....

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 16

  PLANTS YOU MAY FIND: Fireweed isn't the only plant you may find on your hike. The Yukon is home to many beautiful wildflowers. If you are hiking this trail in late April or early May, some of the first flowers to appear are...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 17

  LAVA FLOW: If you look to the walls of the canyon, you'll notice the dark colour. The walls are made of basalt, which is a type of igneous rock. Igneous means that the rock was formed from hardened lava. An ancient lava flow from...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 18

  YUKON RIVER BOATING: Since the Yukon now has roads all throughout the territory, it is no longer necessary to travel by boat. However, tourists and locals still enjoy paddling the Yukon river for its adventure and scenery. A canoe and kayak race, called...

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 19

  AVIATION: You may have noticed airplanes flying overhead during your hike. Miles Canyon is on the flight path for both the Whitehorse International Airport and the Schwatka Lake float plane base. The Yukon has a....

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Service animals allowed
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

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