The 33-mile Chilkoot Trail attracted tens of thousands of prospectors at the turn of the 20th century, who sought fame and fortune in the Klondike Goldfields over 550 miles away.
SKAGWAY, Alaska -
The Klondike Gold Rush, beginning in 1897, lasted just two years, but the trail has been preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, which opened in 1976. The Chilkoot Trail is now known asArtifacts from the gold rush sit alongside the trail that snakes its way up from a few miles outside Skagway over the 3,800-foot Chilkoot Pass to Lake Bennett in Canada.
Taylor-Rose said that in the summer of 2023 that the railroad is planning to operate normal services to and from Canada, meaning the entire length of the trail should be able to open for hikers again. The Chilkoot Trail begins a short way outside the ghost town of Dyea. There are just a few reminders of the once-bustling townsite that has largely crumbled and disappeared into the surrounding forest.