Carcross Travel Guide

Carcross also is known as Caribou Crossing.

From the time the first prospectors came over the Chilkoot Pass, this place was known as Caribou Crossing because of the large herds of caribou that crossed the narrows between Bennett and Tagish Lakes twice a year on their annual migration. 

Following the discovery of Klondike gold in 1896, it became a popular stopping off place for stampeders in their migration to and from the gold fields of Dawson City.

Location: on the South Klondike Highway, between Whitehorse and Skagway

Population (June 2006): 430

Elevation: 2,170 feet, 662 meters

Home of the World's Smallest Desert, the Carcross Desert, and the great beach of Lake Bennett. The population is about 50/50 Native and non-Native.

If taking the White Pass Railway tour from Skagway Alaska, you most likely will tour through Carcross. Make sure that you visit the Wildlife Museum just out of town as it features dozens of full size wild animals carefully restored by a taxidermist.