Miles Canyon

Miles Canyon, on the Yukon River 3 kilometres south of downtown Whitehorse, is a 90-metre-wide basalt canyon where the Yukon River is compressed between sheer walls of columnar basalt — the rock carved by the river into dramatic hexagonal columns and polished smooth by the sediment-laden glacial meltwater of the upper Yukon watershed. The canyon was a critical and deadly obstacle for Klondike Gold Rush stampeders in 1897-1898: the Miles Canyon Rapids and Whitehorse Rapids immediately downstream (now submerged by the Schwatka Lake impoundment) cost many lives and were the reason the North-West Mounted Police stationed officers to regulate the downstream passage — a pivotal moment in Gold Rush history.

Today Miles Canyon is accessible by a 10-kilometre trail network from the Whitehorse city trail system, with a suspension bridge spanning the canyon and trail options on both sides of the river. The combination of dramatic basalt geology, Gold Rush history, Yukon River scenery, and proximity to Whitehorse (an easy 45-minute walk or short cycle from downtown) makes Miles Canyon one of the most accessible significant wilderness features in the Yukon capital.

Late May through September is the prime season — the trails are snow-free, the river is at full summer flow (dramatic from the suspension bridge), and the long Yukon summer days (18-19 hours of light in June) make early morning and evening walks extraordinarily beautiful. June and July bring wildflowers on the canyon rim (fireweed, wild rose, yellow arnica) and the longest days. August is the finest month for the combination of trails, paddling, and wildlife activity (moose visible in the river shallows; beaver active at dawn and dusk; black bears on the canyon slopes). September brings the first fall colour — the trembling aspens on the canyon walls turn gold against the dark basalt. The trails are skiable and snowshoe-able in winter (Whitehorse has an extensive winter trail-grooming program); the frozen canyon in winter is a dramatic sight. Year-round access is one of Miles Canyon’s strengths.

Miles Canyon was named by U.S. Army Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka during his 1883 reconnaissance of the Yukon River — named after General Nelson Miles. The canyon became a pivotal site during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898: the 33,000 stampeders who used the Chilkoot and White Pass routes were funnelled through Miles Canyon and the Whitehorse Rapids just below it, where the turbulent class IV-V whitewater killed scores of people and destroyed or swamped hundreds of boats. The North-West Mounted Police (under Superintendent Samuel Steele) stationed officers at the canyon to impose order: only experienced boatmen were permitted to run the rapids, and women and children were required to walk the portage. The canyon determined the location of Whitehorse as a supply and staging community — the N.W.M.P. post and the portage road established at the canyon became the nucleus of the city. Canyon City (the townsite immediately below the canyon) flourished briefly in 1898 as a service town for the stampeders; today only scattered remnants remain. The White Pass and Yukon Route railroad (1900) bypassed the canyon entirely, ending the river-route era.

Miles Canyon’s sheer walls expose the Haeckel Hill basalt — a Miocene-age (approximately 10-12 million years old) plateau basalt that was erupted from vents in the southern Yukon and solidified into the characteristic columnar jointing that defines the canyon walls. Columnar basalt (also called columnar jointing or basaltic columns) forms when a thick lava flow cools slowly and uniformly: as the lava contracts during cooling, it fractures into a network of hexagonal (and pentagonal) columns perpendicular to the cooling surface — the same pattern seen at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and at Columnar Falls in Washington State. The Yukon River has carved through the basalt plateau, exposing the column faces in the canyon walls. The river’s incision was accelerated by glacial meltwater from the Cordilleran ice sheet during the Pleistocene; the canyon shape reflects both the structure of the columnar basalt and the enormous meltwater floods that scoured the canyon at the end of the last ice age.

Miles Canyon’s Yukon River corridor is one of the finest wildlife-viewing areas accessible from Whitehorse — moose (regularly feeding in the shallow water of Schwatka Lake and the river margins above and below the canyon; moose sightings on the trail are common, particularly in the early morning and evening), beaver (active on the river margin above the canyon; the beaver lodges are visible from the trail), black bears (present on the wooded canyon slopes; sightings are not uncommon in late summer when bears are feeding on berries on the hillsides above the river), bald eagles (regularly perched in the tall spruce above the canyon), common mergansers and goldeneyes (diving for fish in the river), and Arctic grayling (visible rising to hatching insects in the clear water above the canyon). The moose and beaver are the most reliably seen wildlife.

The Miles Canyon Yukon River corridor is a critical riparian ecosystem in the boreal forest south of Whitehorse — the mixed white spruce, trembling aspen and balsam poplar forest on the canyon slopes provides habitat for songbirds (warblers, flycatchers, thrushes), raptors (bald eagle, osprey, sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks), and large mammals. The Yukon River itself in this reach (from Schwatka Lake downstream) is managed for both recreation (paddling, fishing) and wildlife corridor. The beaver populations in the river margin above the canyon are the ecological engineers of the wetland habitats used by waterfowl and moose. The Whitehorse trail network’s proximity to the canyon corridor means the area is heavily visited — wildlife-human habituation is managed by the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government through trail management and signage.

Miles Canyon holds a singular place in Yukon history as the site that determined the location of Whitehorse — without the canyon obstacle, the Klondike Gold Rush stampeders would have had no need for a supply post or portage station at this point on the Yukon River, and the city of Whitehorse might never have been founded where it is. The canyon is a physical reminder of the extraordinary Gold Rush migration of 1897-1898 — 33,000 people, many with no wilderness experience, hauling a year’s provisions over mountain passes and down a river system to reach the Klondike goldfields. The Yukon River below the canyon is the historic waterway that carried Gold Rush boats, Indigenous traders, and fur-trade canoes for centuries. Today the canyon is a beloved green space for Whitehorse residents — a 45-minute walk from downtown to a dramatic wilderness canyon is an exceptional urban-wilderness interface.

Miles Canyon is accessible by car (drive south from Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway, turn west on Miles Canyon Road, and follow it to the Miles Canyon parking area — approximately 8 km from downtown Whitehorse, 15 minutes), by cycling or walking the Whitehorse city trail system (the river trail from downtown Whitehorse leads south to the canyon trailhead — approximately 7-8 km one-way on a paved and gravel multi-use path), or by paddling Schwatka Lake (put in at the Schwatka Lake boat launch and paddle upstream to the canyon). No fee for access (the trails are managed by the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government). The Robert Campbell Bridge over the Yukon River (approximately 2 km north of the canyon) allows a loop route. Whitehorse (the Yukon capital, 8 km north) has full resort services.

The Miles Canyon trail network is managed jointly by the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government. The basalt canyon walls are fragile — the columnar jointing makes individual columns susceptible to toppling if undercut or loaded; do not climb on the canyon walls or attempt to access the river at the canyon base (there is no safe bank access at the canyon itself; the walls are sheer to the water). Stay on designated trails; the riparian vegetation on the canyon rim and slopes is sensitive to trampling. Black bear encounters are possible — carry bear spray on all trail visits from July through September. Pack out all waste from the trailhead and suspension bridge viewpoints. The river above the canyon (Schwatka Lake) is a drinking-water watershed for Whitehorse; no swimming in Schwatka Lake above the canyon.

The suspension bridge provides safe access across the canyon; do not attempt to cross the canyon any other way (the sheer basalt walls are dangerous and there are no other crossing points). The trail surfaces are generally well-maintained but can be muddy and slippery after rain (the Yukon’s clay-loam soils become treacherous when wet; wear footwear with grip). Black bears are present in the trail corridor — carry bear spray and make noise in thick shrub. The Yukon River below the canyon is flowing river with significant current — paddlers must be prepared for flatwater river conditions and carry all required safety gear (PFD, paddle float, bilge pump). Cell service is generally available on the trails close to Whitehorse (within 5 km of downtown); it may be unreliable further south.

No fee for trail access. No campfires along the canyon trails (fire restriction in the Whitehorse trail network; campfires only at designated campgrounds). Pets on leash on all canyon trails (the wildlife corridor is active; a dog off-leash can trigger dangerous encounters with moose or bears). Cycling is permitted on the main river trail but not on all canyon trail spurs (check city of Whitehorse trail map for current cycling designation). No climbing on the canyon walls. Fishing on the Yukon River below the Robert Campbell Bridge requires a Yukon fishing licence. No swimming above the canyon (Schwatka Lake drinking-water watershed). Check city of Whitehorse trail conditions for seasonal closures or maintenance.

Downtown Whitehorse (8 km north — the Yukon capital, with the MacBride Museum of Yukon History, the SS Klondike National Historic Site, the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, and the full services of a modern northern city), Schwatka Lake (immediately north of the canyon — boating, paddling, and fishing), Canyon City Historic Site (the former 1898 Gold Rush townsite immediately below the canyon, with interpretive signage accessible from the east-bank trail), the Robert Campbell Bridge (a footbridge and cycle bridge over the Yukon River 2 km north of the canyon, part of the loop trail), and the Yukon River paddling corridor (the flatwater Yukon River from Whitehorse to Carmacks — a classic 5-day wilderness canoe trip) define the Miles Canyon area.

Walk the 14-km Miles Canyon loop (west bank south to the suspension bridge, across the canyon, east bank north to Robert Campbell Bridge, west back to the Miles Canyon trailhead) in the early morning (6-7 AM) for the finest wildlife activity — moose are regularly seen in the river shallows south of the canyon at dawn, beaver are active at the river margin above the canyon, and the early morning light on the basalt walls and the Yukon River is extraordinary. Bring a fishing rod for the Arctic grayling below the Robert Campbell Bridge — the grayling rise to a dry fly (Elk Hair Caddis, parachute Adams) in the evening and the catch-and-release fishing in the clear Yukon River, backed by the boreal spruce forest and the canyon basalt cliffs, is one of the finer fly-fishing experiences accessible from a northern capital city.