Carcross Nadashaa Héeni Caribou Crossing | |
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![]() Carcross, Yukon | |
Coordinates: 60°10′03″N134°42′26″W / 60.16750°N 134.70722°W Coordinates: 60°10′03″N134°42′26″W / 60.16750°N 134.70722°W | |
Country | Canada |
Territory | Yukon |
Area | |
• Land | 16.14 km2 (6.23 sq mi) |
Elevation | 659 m (2,161 ft) |
Population (2016) [1] | |
• Total | 301 |
• Density | 18.7/km2 (48/sq mi) |
• Change 2011-16 | ![]() |
Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, (Lingít: Nadashaa Héeni [3] ) is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. At the 2016 census it had a population of 301. [1]
It is 74 km (46 mi) south-southeast by the Alaska Highway and the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse. The south end of the Tagish Road is in Carcross. Carcross is also on the White Pass and Yukon Route railway.
Carcross is mainly known for its world class mountain biking on the near-by Montana Mountain, and for the nearby Carcross Desert, often referred to as the "world's smallest desert." [4]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(December 2018) |
Caribou Crossing was a fishing and hunting camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people. 4,500-year-old artifacts from First Nations people living in the area have been found in the region.
Originally known as Naataase Heen (Tagish for ‘water running through the narrows’), [4] Caribou Crossing was named after the migration of huge numbers of caribou across the natural land bridge between Lake Bennett and Nares Lake. That caribou herd was decimated during the Klondike Gold Rush, but a recovery program raised the number of animals to about 450. The modern village began in 1896, during the Klondike Gold Rush. At the time, Caribou Crossing was a popular stopping place for prospectors going to and from the gold fields of Dawson City.
Caribou Crossing was also a station for the Royal Mail and the Dominion Telegraph Line, and it served as a communications point on the Yukon River.
In 1904, Caribou Crossing was renamed Carcross as a result of some mail mix-ups with the Cariboo Regional District in nearby British Columbia.
Silver mining was promoted nearby in Conrad, Yukon in the early 1900s, but there was little to be found and mining efforts soon ended. [5] Mineral exploration continues today, [6] but tourism is far more important to the economy of the community. [4]
In 2016, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visited Carcross for a day trip. [7]
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1986 | 209 | — |
1991 | 183 | −12.4% |
1996 | 196 | +7.1% |
2001 | 152 | −22.4% |
2006 | 280 | +84.2% |
2011 | 289 | +3.2% |
2016 | 301 | +4.2% |
2021 | — | |
Source: Statistics Canada [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] |
Carcross has a dry-summer subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsc), typical of this part of the Yukon.
Summer days are mild to warm with crisp, cool nights due to low humidity during summers. Winters are cold by Canadian standards, but not so much by Yukon standards. Annual snowfall averages 50 inches (127 cm) with peak snowpack reaching 16 inches (40.6 cm) during March. [15]
Carcross has one of the lowest amounts of precipitation days out of anywhere in Canada, only having 76 precipitation days, with the rainiest month September only averaging 9 days with precipitation, and the driest month April only averaging 2 days with precipitation.
Climate data for Carcross | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 8.9 (48.0) | 18.9 (66.0) | 13.5 (56.3) | 21.0 (69.8) | 28.0 (82.4) | 31.7 (89.1) | 32.5 (90.5) | 31.7 (89.1) | 26.7 (80.1) | 20.0 (68.0) | 13.3 (55.9) | 14.0 (57.2) | 32.5 (90.5) |
Average high °C (°F) | −13.2 (8.2) | −7.8 (18.0) | −0.6 (30.9) | 7.3 (45.1) | 12.0 (53.6) | 17.0 (62.6) | 21.7 (71.1) | 20.6 (69.1) | 13.5 (56.3) | 5.6 (42.1) | −3.7 (25.3) | −7.3 (18.9) | 3.6 (38.5) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −18.2 (−0.8) | −13.9 (7.0) | −7.8 (18.0) | −0.7 (30.7) | 5.6 (42.1) | 10.6 (51.1) | 14.2 (57.6) | 13.0 (55.4) | 7.9 (46.2) | 1.1 (34.0) | −7.7 (18.1) | −11.6 (11.1) | −2.4 (27.7) |
Average low °C (°F) | −22.7 (−8.9) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −14.8 (5.4) | −8.4 (16.9) | 0.0 (32.0) | 4.0 (39.2) | 6.7 (44.1) | 5.1 (41.2) | 2.3 (36.1) | −3.4 (25.9) | −11.4 (11.5) | −15.7 (3.7) | −8.2 (17.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | −51.2 (−60.2) | −48.3 (−54.9) | −42.2 (−44.0) | −32.8 (−27.0) | −12.5 (9.5) | −6.7 (19.9) | −3.3 (26.1) | −11.7 (10.9) | −18.0 (−0.4) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −40.0 (−40.0) | −55.0 (−67.0) | −55.0 (−67.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 28.6 (1.13) | 23.4 (0.92) | 9.6 (0.38) | 5.5 (0.22) | 14.9 (0.59) | 28.5 (1.12) | 29.9 (1.18) | 28.1 (1.11) | 32.9 (1.30) | 27.0 (1.06) | 28.9 (1.14) | 22.5 (0.89) | 279.8 (11.02) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.2 (0.01) | 1.5 (0.06) | 14.8 (0.58) | 28.5 (1.12) | 29.9 (1.18) | 28.0 (1.10) | 30.1 (1.19) | 17.1 (0.67) | 1.4 (0.06) | 0.2 (0.01) | 152.2 (5.99) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 28.1 (11.1) | 23.4 (9.2) | 9.4 (3.7) | 4.0 (1.6) | 0.1 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.0) | 2.8 (1.1) | 9.9 (3.9) | 27.4 (10.8) | 22.4 (8.8) | 127.6 (50.2) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 7.5 | 6.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 4.7 | 6.4 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 9.0 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 76.3 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 5.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 41.7 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 7.3 | 6.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 35.9 |
Source: 1981-2010 Environment Canada, [16] Source 2: May and June temp. averages |
Carcross relies on tourism to support the local economy. It lies on the Klondike Highway between Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska and offers a variety of historic attractions and outdoor activities. Popular with road traffic including tour buses and RVs, in 2007 the White Pass railway also resumed service to Carcross railway station.
Just north of the town is the Carcross Desert, often referred to as the "world's smallest desert." [4] There are two small airports located in the area, Carcross Airport is adjacent to the town and Carcross Water Aerodrome located on Tagish Lake.
Alaska cruises stopping in Skagway will offer day tours to Carcross. The day tours offer stops at the Yukon sign, the Caribou Crossing Wildlife Museum, Dog Sledding Zoo and the actual town of Carcross. [17]
Carcross lies on the popular Klondike Highway.
The city is served by Carcross Airport, which has no scheduled commercial flights. The closest Canadian airport with large airline service is Whitehorse Airport, which has domestic airline service as well as flights to Europe and the United States. Tourist buses serving cruise ships passengers at the port of Skagway, Alaska, USA make day trips to Carcross. [18]
In 2016, the Yukon Arts Centre opened an art gallery called the Art House and storefront in Carcross, in partnership with the Tagish First Nation.
Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which rises in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in Alaska. The city was named after the White Horse Rapids for their resemblance to the mane of a white horse, near Miles Canyon, before the river was dammed.
Yukon is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 35,874 people as of the 2016 Census. Whitehorse, the territorial capital, is the largest settlement in any of the three territories.
The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with more than 1,000,000 visitors each year. Incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007, it was previously a city in the Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon Census Area. The most populated community is the census-designated place of Skagway.
Beaver Creek is a community in Yukon, Canada. Located at kilometre 1870.6 of the Alaska Highway, 1 NM southeast of Beaver Creek Airport and close to the Alcan - Beaver Creek Border Crossing, it is Canada's westernmost community. The community's main employers are a Canada Border Services Agency port, the White River First Nation and a number of tourist lodges.
Faro is a town in the central Yukon, Canada, the home of the now abandoned Faro Mine. It was the largest open-pit lead–zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resources. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the United States with General Enterprises Ltd. of Whitehorse being the main subcontractor. As of 2016, the population is 348, lower than its peak population of 1,652 in 1981. Faro was named after the card game of the same name.
The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class III 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the Port of Skagway, and via road through a few of the stops along its route.
Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,375 as of the 2016 census, making it the second-largest town in Yukon.
Bennett Lake is a lake in the Province of British Columbia and Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada. It is just north of the border with the United States state of Alaska, near the Alaskan port of Skagway.
The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon. Its route somewhat parallels the route used by prospectors in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush.
Old Crow is a community in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It had 221 inhabitants as of 2016, most of them Gwich'in, a First Nations people who belong to the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.
Burwash Landing is a small community, at historical mile 1093 on the Alaska Highway, in Yukon, Canada along the southern shore of Kluane Lake.
Carmacks is a village in Yukon, Canada, on the Yukon River along the Klondike Highway, and at the west end of the Robert Campbell Highway from Watson Lake. The population is 493. It is the home of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation, a Northern Tutchone-speaking people.
Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. It has a population of 790 in 2016. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in the area at the end of the nineteenth century.
Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska and the Northwest Territories. The sparsely populated territory abounds with natural scenic beauty, with snowmelt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains, including many of Canada's highest mountains. The territory's climate is Arctic in territory north of Old Crow, subarctic in the region, between Whitehorse and Old Crow, and humid continental climate south of Whitehorse and in areas close to the British Columbia border. Most of the territory is boreal forest with tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.
Mayo is a village in Yukon, Canada, along the Silver Trail and the Stewart River. It had a population of 200 in 2016. The Yukon Bureau of Statistics estimated a population of 496 in 2019. It is also the home of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, whose primary language is Northern Tutchone. Na-Cho Nyäk Dun translates into "big river people."
Pelly Crossing is a community in Yukon, Canada. It lies where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River. Population in 2008 was 291.
Tagish is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada. It is 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Carcross, Yukon, on the Tagish Road at the northern end of Tagish Lake. The greater Tagish area also includes the Tagish Estates, Tagish Beach and Taku subdivisions, the latter two developed for cottages but now serving for many year-round homes. Tagish Beach and Taku have their own community hall. The population of Tagish in 2016 was 249. The Tagish Road was built in 1942 as part of an oil pipeline project, and the community sprouted around a bridge built over the narrow water between Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake.
Mount Lorne is a hamlet in Canada's Yukon. The hamlet is considered a local advisory area with an advisory council providing local government. Its population in 2001 according to the Census was 379.
Stewart Crossing is a settlement in Yukon, Canada located on the Stewart River. It is about 179 km east of Dawson City on the Klondike Highway, near the junction with the Silver Trail, from which it is about 53 km (33 mi) southwest of Mayo. A Yukon government highway maintenance camp and a highway lodge are the most prominent facilities at Stewart Crossing. The settlement is named for where the Klondike Highway, crossed the Stewart River by means of a ferry from 1950 until completion of a bridge in the mid-1950s.
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