Skagway: Home of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad

Skagway was our favorite port on the Alaskan Cruise. This quaint little town is located just west of the Canadian border at the northern tip of Alaska's Inside Passage.  It is also part of the setting for Jack London's book The Call of the Wild.

Downtown Skagway is just 7-blocks long and the town's year-round population consists of a mere 850 adventurous souls who dare to brave an Alaskan winter. But the population doubles in the summer months as people from The Lower 48 move to Skagway to enjoy the mild climate. (It was a comfortable 54 degrees and sunny the day we arrived.) Many of these friendly summertime residents can be found walking around town in bright yellow vests that say "Skagway Ambassador". They'll gladly answer tourists' questions and help with directions.

The city of Skagway was founded in 1897 as word spread that gold had been found in the Klondike mountains just east of town. Skagway's population boomed as prospectors poured into town in search of riches. Apparently many were quite successful because a total of 10 million dollars worth of gold was discovered in those mountains in 1898. The Klondike Gold Rush yielded so much gold over the next two years that it eventually came to be known as the largest gold rush in the world! In 1900, Skagway became the first incorporated city in Alaska. It is also the childhood home of former governor Sarah Palin.

 

Today many of the original buildings in Skagway have been restored to look like the old gold rush town and it's main industry is now tourism. Nearly a million cruise ship tourists visit each summer.

One of the main tourist attractions in Skagway is the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. 

This 3-hour train ride begins in town at sea level and climbs for 20 miles to an altitude of 3,000 feet, just inside the Canadian border.

Much of the train route follows the original White Pass Trail from the 1898 gold rush.

Trail marker for the original Gold Rush Trail of 1898

The scenery along the route is breathtaking.

Glacier at the bottom of snow-capped mountains

We saw glaciers, waterfalls, gorges, and even a bear cub! I must admit, seeing the little brown cub was the highlight of the trip. He was walking right next to the train tracks and so close to us that we could have reached out the window to pet him. But I'm sure Mama Bear was nearby, even though she never came out of hiding.

While the views on the train ride are spectacular, the railroad itself is a Civil Engineering Landmark. It shares this honor with other such notable landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and Panama Canal. "The WP&YR is recognized for the many difficult and hazardous obstacles that construction overcame: design challenges, granite mountains, steep grades, cliff hanging turns, and unimaginable weather conditions". As we passed the original trestle, it was hard not to think of the workers who built this incredible landmark in heavy snow and temperatures of 60 below.

One interesting site along the train route is the Gold Rush Cemetery. This old cemetery, on the outskirts of town, dates back to the gold rush era and includes the grave of infamous scoundrel Soapy Smith who died in a shootout in 1898.

As we approached the Canadian border, we could see a large sign that read "On to Alaska with Buchanan"  painted on the side of a mountain. Apparently in the 1920s, an adventurer named George Buchanan led tours from Detroit to Alaska for groups of young people. During one of those summer excursions, several young boys painted the sign on the side of a mountain to commemorate their adventure.

 

We could also see the Klondike Highway from the train. This highwary links Skagway with British Columbia and eventually the Alaska Highway. The US Customs Station located on the highway is jokingly referred to as IHOP. You can see why in the picture above.

Klondike Highway carved into mountainside

Our train eventually reached the US-Canadian border which meant we were halfway through our journey.

After crossing the border, the train stopped briefly while the engine relocated to the rear of the train. The passengers inside the train flipped the back of the bench seats over so that we were now facing the other direction. And the descent back down to Skagway began.

The train itself is very comfortable. A gas-burning stove at the front of each train car keeps passengers warm.

And a tiny bathroom, with a unique toilet, provides another type of much-needed comfort during the 3-hour train ride. Free bottles of water are also available in each train car. And a small outdoor platform on each car is a great place for taking pictures.

As our train approached the pier, we could see the line of passengers waiting to board to the ship was getting quite long. And since we were all getting hungry, we decided to skip a second tour of the town's shops and head to the Lido Deck for some food.  

That night the sun didn't set until after 10:00pm, so enjoyed the rest of the night watching the mountains and glaciers pass by our balcony as we sailed out of town.