The Great River Journey

The Great River Journey is a unique world-class geotour. It combines the adventure of a wilderness river safari with a journey of personal discovery — there is no other product like it in North America. The Great River Journey begins in Whitehorse and unfolds over eight days and 600 kilometers (373 miles) of wilderness leading to Dawson City. Along the way, it passes through thetraditional lands of our four First Nations partners, whose citizens are among the people who will be hosting, guiding and caring for guests.

Small groups (maximum 10 people) travel in their own riverboat with a pilot and an experienced local guide. Frequent landings are made to view wildlife, explore the wilderness and historical sites, rest and relax. The small group size and the wide variety of Yukon attractions permit each tour to be personalized to accommodate special interests such as wildlife viewing, nature photography, bird watching, hiking, paddling and participating in cultural and interpretative programs.

The Great River Journey has been developed as a responsible tourism product, with respect for the environment and First Nations culture as its cornerstone values.

2010 Departure Dates

Great River Journey Classic 5 day 4 nights
Departures: June to September
Guaranteed: Saturday and Sunday departures are guaranteed

Great River Journey Classic Plus 7 days 6 Nights
Departures: June to September
Guaranteed: Friday, Saturday and Sunday departures are guaranteed.

Great River Journey Classic 5 day 4 nights - $5,495 USD
Great River Journey Classic Plus 7 days 6 Nights - $6,495 USD

Rates are per person based on double occupancy. Private charters and customized itineraries available. Call for early booking specials and for price group prices.

Great River Journey is a unique, exclusive, eight-day, wilderness safari down the historic Yukon River in Northern Canada. The journey travels 600 kilometers (373 miles) through the heart of the Yukon wilderness – internationally acclaimed for its outstanding unspoiled wilderness, rich culture, history and warm, friendly people. The Great River Journey begins in Whitehorse, the Yukon’s capital, which can be reached by direct flights from southern Canada, the United States and Europe.

Small groups (maximum 10 people) travel in their own riverboat with a pilot and an experienced local guide. Frequent landings are made to view wildlife, explore the wilderness, visit historical and geological sites, rest and relax. The small group size and wide variety of unique and interesting Yukon attractions permits each tour to be personalized to accommodate special interests such as wilderness and wildlife viewing, nature photography, bird watching, hiking, paddling, visiting historical sites, participating in cultural and interpretative programs and specialty tours such as Muktuk Adventures.

Each step in the Great River Journey takes visitors further back in time and deeper into the wilderness, history and culture of the Yukon. Overnight accommodation is in small, private, remotely situated lodge facilities. Each lodge has been designed and themed to harmonize with and accentuate the unique wilderness and historical aspects of the surrounding area. Private “tented” sleeping cabins provide guests with all the security and comfort of a first class hotel suite with the feeling and appearance of a tented cabin.

Fine cuisine featuring local ingredients and traditional foods is served throughout the journey. The lodge accommodation at each overnight stop becomes more rustic, closer to nature and themed in the time period being explored. The tour is comprised of two nights at Upper Labarge Lodge (a Yukon riverboat stop of the 1930s), two nights at Homestead Lodge (a wilderness homestead from 1901) near Fort Selkirk (an historical site preserved in the wilderness), one night at Wilderness Outpost (a trading post of the 1840s) and two nights in Dawson City (the center of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898) now a Canadian Historic Site.

The Great River Journey passes through the traditional lands of four First Nations whose people will be among those hosting, guiding and caring for guests. The Great River Journey is owned and operated by the First Nations and a group of experienced tour operators.

Packages Includes: Lodge accommodation and meals, transportation via river boat with pilot & local guide, air charter(s) as per the itinerary, group equipment (canoes, kayaks, fishing gear) and guide services.

Package does not Include: Alcoholic beverages. Gratuities. Fishing license (optional). Transfers to and from Whitehorse. Goods and Services Tax (GST). Transportation out of Dawson City. Trip Cancellation Insurance.

Itinerary

The Great River Journey begins in Whitehorse and unfolds over seven days of wilderness leading to Dawson City.

Day 1 - Whitehorse to Upper Labarge Lodge

The Journey Begins

Guests are welcomed in the Yukon’s capital city, Whitehorse, within the traditional lands of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch'än Council. Those arriving via air through Vancouver, Calgary and Frankfurt land at the Whitehorse International Airport. Highway travelers arrive in Whitehorse via the Alaska Highway. Cruise ship and Alaska Marine Highway travelers arriving through Skagway, Alaska can make the 100-mile trip into Whitehorse by a combination of the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Narrow Gauge railway and motorcoach.

The Journey begins with a private guided tour of the SS Klondike II, a Canadian National Historic Site. This paddlewheeler plied the Yukon River during the era of riverboat transportation. The tour brings to life the challenges and difficulties faced by those who opened up the Yukon.

Following the SS Klondike tour, guests are transported to the Great River Journey river boat. This boat comfortably accommodates 10 guests for the short trip to Upper Labarge Lodge.

Surrounded by the lands of Ta’an Kwäch'än Council and accessible only by riverboat, Upper Labarge Lodge provides a safe and luxurious first stop in a wilderness setting that invites travelers to relax completely.

Facilities at Upper Labarge Lodge include a log-crafted main lodge with fireplace and bar overlooking the lake, an elegant dining area, reading room and upper deck. Intimate pathways connect the main lodge to the private cabins overlooking the lake. Each cabin has a full ensuite with bed and sitting room.

Wilderness Adventures Abound

Limited access, restricted hunting and the remote nature of the surrounding lands provide unique opportunities for wildlife viewing. Interpretive sessions, hiking, and specialty tours such as Muktuk Adventures are available for individuals and small groups. Bird watching opportunities abound in adjacent Shallow Bay, a wetland that serves as a staging area for vast numbers of migratory birds. Beaver, waterfowl and arctic grayling populate nearby creeks, which are easily accessed by canoe and kayak.

Day 2 - Upper Labarge Lodge - Extra Day

Wake up to the sounds of nature amidst the fabled ancestral lands of the Ta’an Kwach’an Council. Before a gourmet camp breakfast, take in the glory of the morning by paddling a canoe along the shores of Lake Laberge, or try your hand at fishing for pike, arctic grayling or lake trout – or go for a refreshing early morning hike in the solitude of our northern forests. Set off by canoe or kayak to visit the local beaver and bald eagle population, paddle the shore of famous Lake Labarge and see what the early travelers and First Nations saw so many years ago. Take a guided hike along the trails and visit the historical Ta’an Village and cemetery.

Days 3 & 4 - Journey into “The Thirty Mile”

Rested and ready, guests depart Upper Labarge Lodge to venture across Lake Laberge and down the “Thirty Mile” section of the Yukon River. Its high cut banks, steep overgrown bluffs, narrow and fast-running channels, numerous small rapids, untouched scenery and rich history have earned this section of the river official designation and protected status as one of Canada’s 28 “Heritage Rivers.” None is more beautiful.

Now a completely uninhabited and reclaimed wilderness preserve, the “Thirty Mile” was once one of the busiest and most treacherous stretches of the Yukon for steam-powered paddle wheelers. Heavily overgrown but still visible are the remains of the log cabins that served as homes, Mounted Police detachments, telegraph stations and wood camps. Several huge paddle wheelers remain largely intact where shipwrecked—or hauled out and abandoned—over 80 years ago.

A Flightseeing Adventure

After a rest stop at Steamboat Island and a tour of the dry docked and abandoned Evelyn, guests board a floatplane for a one-hour overflight of the Yukon River to Homestead Lodge. The river below triples in size as the Teslin, Big Salmon and Little Salmon tributaries flow in, churning its waters through the awe-inspiring Five Finger and Rink rapids. Now a truly “Great River,” the Yukon presents immense open vistas as it flows past huge rock outcrops, bluffs and rock walls at the confluence of the Pelly River.

From Homestead Lodge, guests will travel down river to Fort Selkirk, a living cultural heritage site that the Selkirk First Nation and Yukon Heritage Branch are working together to preserve and develop.

In the 1840s, Robert Campbell selected the Fort Selkirk site—a traditional gathering and trading site of First Nations peoples—as the location for the first Hudson Bay Company fort and trading post established in the Yukon. Today, it stands today largely intact and it remains accessible only by river.

Interpretive guides from the Selkirk First Nation will host guests in their walk through history at Fort Selkirk. A variety of programs are available to suit individual interests.

Day 5– Wilderness Outpost

Real Yukon Wilderness, Real Yukon Adventure

From Homestead Lodge, guests travel to Wilderness Outpost for the most remote backcountry experience of their journey. This is an excellent opportunity for canoeing or kayaking accompanied by the support boat. Here, the river runs through wide-open valleys framed by large prominent rock bluffs. The Stewart and White Rivers join the Yukon, bringing with them vast amounts of glacial and alluvial silt, turning the Great River white for many kilometres downstream.

Touching Nature at Wilderness Outpost

Nestled on the bank of the Great River, Wilderness Outpost provides an opportunity for guests to experience nature first hand. Its tented cabins give guests the feeling of “roughing it in the bush” with all creature comforts intact. With inner and outer walls of canvas, the tented cabins blend the camping atmosphere with the structural integrity, safety and all the conveniences, including full ensuites, of a conventional lodge. Fine food, storytelling around the campfire, and night sounds provide the backdrop for reflection and personal growth. Experienced and attentive wilderness guides assure guest comfort and safety.

Day 6 – The City of Gold

Enjoy a guided hike through the surrounding wilderness, home to 10 per cent of Canada’s grizzlies, the Porcupine caribou herd, peregrine falcons, and seasonal home to millions of migratory birds. In the late morning we continue our journey by riverboat, stopping for wildlife sightings and for a last gourmet shore-picnic. This is the threshold of the world’s most famous gold rush, brought to life through the stories of your guides. Abandoned settlements and camps are testament to the ebb and flow of humanity into this now reclaimed wilderness. Arrive in the fabled Northern Eldorado of Dawson City – back to the time of gold fever and dance hall girls!

Savour the sights, the noise, and hustle and bustle of still thriving “Paris” of the north. The cultural richness of Dawson City is a perfect counterpoint to the stark beauty of the preceding days of wilderness. History, gold, shopping, and entertainment await. Explore the Edwardian streets & museums, enjoy the readings of Robert Service, and see the log cabin where Jack London spent his winters.

Private accommodation within the historic townsite provides a convenient base from which to explore the historical landmarks and experience the enduring character of Dawson. Guests have the opportunity to cash in a few chips at Diamond Tooth Gerties, hear poetry readings at the home of Robert Service, marvel at the log cabin where Jack London spent his Klondike winter.

Day 7 – Dawson & Homeward Bound

For millennia, Dawson was used by the Han-speaking people of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in as a small fishing camp – until everything changed when gold was discovered in 1896. Drive or hike over the ‘Dome’ and tour the gold fields, try your hand at gold panning on the world famous Bonanza Creek and learn how large-scale mining was done 50 years ago with a visit to Dredge #4.

Your journey of discovery with us winds down as you travel homeward along the Klondike Highway. When this road was built it ended the era of romantic and adventurous travel by paddle wheelers along the river you have so recently experienced. Travel back to Whitehorse via the route of the “modern world”, stop at a twisted log cabin for an old fashioned homemade lunch, often cooked on a working wood cook stove. Watch the flocks of birds as they make their way through the geologically unique Tintina Trench and see Five-Finger Rapids from a different perspective.