Ride a vintage narrow-gauge steam train to the summit of the White Pass — the harrowing 'Dead Horse Trail' of 1898 — then step into a private Klondike Gold Rush experience with a historian guide.
What to expect
The locomotive shudders to life at Skagway's ornate 1898 depot and begins its impossible climb: 2,865 feet of elevation gained in just 20 miles, threading past waterfalls, over dizzying trestles, and through granite tunnels blasted by Klondike stampeders. Your historian points out the actual trail where 100,000 prospectors — and 3,000 horses — toiled in the brutal winter of 1898. At the summit, the Yukon tundra spreads below in every direction. The return journey is just as spectacular, now bathed in afternoon gold.
Good to know
The depot is a short walk from the Skagway pier. The Summit Excursion round trip runs approximately 3 hours — well within all-aboard. Book parlor car charters at least 6 weeks ahead. Run from May through September only.