Skagway to Yukon/Caribou Crossing

[KYTOAK]

1st cruise, dream vacation to Alaska end of May beginning of June aboard Radiance. We have a car reserved for the drive into the Yukon from Skagway. We have printed out "The Guide" and checked the Carcross websites. Questions: I see that Caribou Crossing trading post offers gold panning. Is this a good place to do such a thing or should we try to do it in Juneau? Also with the dog cart rides, do you have to reserve in advance or can you just walk up as I can't predict how long it will take us to get there? Here's the really dumb question: do we need to get Canadian money for this trip or is US (or plastic) acceptable?

 

Have been reading since October and wanted to say thanks for all the suggestions and info here on this board. It has been extremely helpful in planning this trip.:)

[Yukon]

Plastic or US cash are acceptable pretty much everywhere in Carcross.

 

I haven't seen the yield from the gold pans at Caribou Crossing so can't answer that one. The panning at the Klondike Gold Dredge is Skagway, though, is very good (the best "colors" in Alaska are at the Eldorado Gold Mine in Fairbanks).

 

To take a dog cart ride, no reservations are needed - you can just walk up and go within a few minutes.

 

Have fun!

 

Murray

[KYTOAK]

Thanks for your help. 12YO son wants to pan for gold and was curious as to a good (reasonable price, fun experience) place to try to do it. Unfortunately we will not be making it to Fairbanks (way too much to see and not enough time).

Thanks again for your help.

[KYTOAK]

Thanks for your help. 12YO son wants to pan for gold and was curious as to a good (reasonable price, fun experience) place to try to do it. Unfortunately we will not be making it to Fairbanks (way too much to see and not enough time).

Thanks again for your help.

[MercedMike]

As I understand it, the 15 minute cart rides at Caribou Crossing are "first come first serve." There are lots of buses there until about 1 PM, but after that you should have no trouble whatsoever.

 

We did make advance reservations for the 30 minute cart ride, which includes a presentation by Michelle and the other mushers on the sleds, food, tactics and so on for the Yukon Quest. It was very interesting and having reservations was assuring.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[KYTOAK]

Thanks for your advice - loved the pictures. How much time should we allow for the drive into the Yukon and Caribou Crossing. We hope to be on the road by 9am and I do like to take pictures. I guess bottom line when do we need to leave Caribou Crossing/Emerald lake to make it back to Skagway and still have a little time to explore the town before an 8:30 ship departure?

[Yukon]

Thanks for your advice - loved the pictures. How much time should we allow for the drive into the Yukon and Caribou Crossing. We hope to be on the road by 9am and I do like to take pictures. I guess bottom line when do we need to leave Caribou Crossing/Emerald lake to make it back to Skagway and still have a little time to explore the town before an 8:30 ship departure?

 

I recommend 5 hours for the whole trip, but you can make it back to Skagway from Caribou Crossing in an hour and 10 minutes without rushing (plus border crossing, but that's always very quick - 10 minutes would be a long delay).

 

Murray

[KYTOAK]

Thank you again. It helps knowing a little of what to expect. We can't wait for this trip to begin. Until then we'll keep reading and learning.

[MercedMike]

Thanks for your advice - loved the pictures. How much time should we allow for the drive into the Yukon and Caribou Crossing. We hope to be on the road by 9am and I do like to take pictures. I guess bottom line when do we need to leave Caribou Crossing/Emerald lake to make it back to Skagway and still have a little time to explore the town before an 8:30 ship departure?

 

If you pick up your car at about 8:30, you can go by the Gold Rush cemetary and then out the Dyea spur to the overlook, and be on your way into the Yukon by about 9:15 or so. If you use about three hours driving that will give you lots of time for the great picture stops, and get you to Emerald Lake around noon. Stop for lunch at Spirit Lake, and get back to Caribou Crossing about 1:30 (ship's time -- Yukon time is an hour different) and you will find the buses have left and you have the place to yourself. Allow an hour and a half for the dogs and the museum, be on the road by 3:00 and you should be back in Skagway before 5, giving you time to shop a bit and look around before dinner aboard. Worked well for us.

[BaileyandBella]

 

To take a dog cart ride, no reservations are needed - you can just walk up and go within a few minutes

 

How much does it cost for adults and children and how long does it last?

 

I saw the little cafe there online that say it serves soups and sandwiches, is it good? How are the prices?

 

Thanks

[Yukon]

How much does it cost for adults and children and how long does it last?

 

I saw the little cafe there online that say it serves soups and sandwiches, is it good? How are the prices?

 

Thanks

 

There are short and long cart rides - http://yukonhuskies.com/kennel_tours.html

 

There are 2 little cafes near Carcross that serve good soup and sandwich lunches (and another re-opening on the 15th).

[TrnrMom]

Hi - just did this & we second all that has been written above. We left at 8:10 AM and chose to drive almost straight through to Caribou Crossing to avoid the buses. Marilyn recommended getting there before 11 or after 1 so we set the time at 10:30AM. Even tho we forgot about the time change, and stopped about 3 times, we got there in time around 10:45 AM. With it so quiet, Michelle, Maran & Claudia spent a lot of time with us between the ride, and the tour. Bring sun glasses- it can be dusty! The dogs are a blast!

 

After that we drove to Emerald Lake, took our time coming back with several stops, stopped a long while at the Jewel Gardens and had the car back by 4:45PM, and were back on the ship by 5:30PM. We grabbed a sandwich at Caribou Crossing, as there wasn't much take out at Spirit Lodge.