I spent 48 hours in the Yukon, this is the ultimate 2 day itinerary

Sure, its best-known drawcard is a night-time spectacle but there's much to do in the Yukon's capital city, Whitehorse, during the day, too. 

Whitehorse, the capital of the Canadian territory of Yukon, is famous for its nightlife. But forget clubs and bars; up here – at the gateway to the subarctic – Mother Nature is in charge of the after-dark entertainment.

Travellers flock to this tiny northern outpost, population about 30,000, to glimpse the aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights).

But if you can keep your eyes open in daylight hours, this snow-blanketed frontier town on the banks of the mighty Yukon River has much to explore, including a fascinating melting pot of natural history, First Nations culture and pioneering tales, as well as wildlife, hot springs and even ice fishing.

DAY 1: Morning

Step off the plane and go back in time 2.5 million years. Next to the airport, at the end of a short forest trail, is the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. This prehistoric time capsule is a window into the last ice age when Canada was covered in 1km-thick ice and a land bridge existed between Siberia and North America, providing passage for megafauna such as the woolly mammoth. See their fossils up close, together with a 55,000-year-old mummified wolf.

Arriving in Whitehorse, you’ll be surprised how navigable this compact little city is on foot. Start on the banks of the Yukon River at the Healing Totem, a tribute to Whitehorse’s version of the Stolen Generations. Here, in the Traditional Territories of Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, you can gaze across North America’s third-longest river as mist rises from its frozen fringes.

Visit the nearby MacBride Museum, adjoining the 1898 telegraph station, and learn about the history of the Yukon, from First Nation’s occupation 14,000 years ago to the fur traders and gold prospectors who put Whitehorse on the map as a stopover en route to the Klondike goldfields downstream. Take the river trail north to Shipyards Park, a dry dock during the gold rush where you can ice skate in winter. At the southern end of the trail, see the SS Klondike, one of Canada’s last remaining steam-powered paddlewheelers.

Downtown Whitehorse is conveniently walkable.

Afternoon

Drop in for lunch at Burnt Toast Cafe in 2nd Ave, a block back from the river. Housed in one of the city’s original buildings, this all-day diner serves a mean brunch, pimped-up sandwiches (the Hot Italian, for instance, includes prosciutto, spicy capicola and pesto) and lashings of Canada’s national dish, poutine – fries with cheese curds and gravy.

Check in to Best Western Gold Rush Inn in Main Street. You know you’re in the Yukon when there’s an enormous moose head in the lobby. The adjoining Gold Pan Saloon, with its pressed-metal ceiling and candelabra chandeliers, is an atmospheric spot for a drink.

Pop in to Lumel Studios, the hottest destination in Whitehorse – quite literally. The family-owned glass-blowing studio enables visitors to make their own Yukon souvenir. Choose a design and colours and the staff will help you ease a molten orb at the end of a blowpipe in and out of the furnace, burning at more than 1000°C. Take a seat at the on-site eatery, Gather Café and Taphouse, and enjoy a Mexican-inspired feast of tacos and cocktails.

Glass blowing workshop at Lumel Studios. Picture: Andrew Strain

Evening

It’s showtime! Join Northern Tales for a guided aurora viewing. The team will pick you up from the hotel at 10pm and take you to a remote site with a clear view of the night sky, free from light pollution. Cast your eyes skyward as a witch’s brew of green light pulses and streaks across the heavens. When the cold seeps into your bones, warm up by the campfire or in one of the toasty log cabins where a midnight feast of snacks awaits.

Aurora spotting is the major attraction in Whitehorse.

DAY 2: Morning

Sleep in and grab breakfast on the run at Baked, a bustling café that does an excellent bacon breakfast croissant to go. While you eat your pastry morsel, make your way to the Old Log Church in Elliott St. Resembling a set from Little House on the Prairie, the quaint church is across the road from a mural depicting old-town Whitehorse. Don’t miss the quirky three-storey “Log Skyscraper” in nearby Lambert Street.

Drive out to Yukon Wildlife Preserve, a 140ha sanctuary about half an hour north of Whitehorse. Take the 5km trail around the preserve, home to 12 species of animals including moose, elk, bison, caribou, Arctic foxes and two very shy Canada lynx (you can also opt for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour). Far from a zoo, the preserve is in a natural setting with large enclosures and is your best chance to see local wildlife up close.

Wander to the Old Log Church Museum in Whitehorse.

Afternoon

Warm up across the road from the preserve at Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs, an outdoor bathing complex with steam rooms, a relaxation room and saunas . If it’s cold enough (-20C°) you can even enter the frozen hair competition – it’s a thing! Dry off and grab a bite to eat back in Whitehorse at Bullet Hole Bagels, a scrumptious bakery serving Montreal-style sangas with your choice of bread and filling.

Rug up once more for an epic ice-fishing expedition with North Country Outdoor Adventures. An afternoon with owner Kyle Callbeck starts with a pick-up in his Ford F 150, ahem, pick-up truck. Soon you’re zipping through a spruce tree forest in a sled behind a skimobile and sweeping across a frozen lake. Once in position, Kyle drills a 20cm hole through the ice, pops up a tent, fires up the heater and – hey, presto – you dangle a fishing line into the icy water below.

Success! Ice fishing with Kyle from North County Outdoor Adventures. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Evening

Join Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip for dinner at the Woodcutter’s Blanket. The royals’ portraits adorn the walls beside a pair of caribou antlers at this cosy restaurant-brewery in a 1930s log cabin. If you didn’t manage to catch a fish dinner, fear not, the bison Bolognese here is the bomb.

Do not retire just yet. You’re in the Yukon and sleep is for suckers. Every night is another chance to glimpse the northern lights.

The Northern Lights over McIntyre Creek near Whitehorse. Picture: Peter Mather

The writer was a guest of Travel Yukon and Destination Canada.

How to get to Whitehorse, Canada from Australia

Air Canada flies direct to Vancouver from Sydney and Brisbane with connections to Whitehorse in the Yukon.

Originally published as I spent 48 hours in the Yukon, this is the ultimate 2 day itinerary