Skagway Things to Do

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In August 2010 the White Pass Yukon train trip US$112 per person for a half day excursion.

Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the train ride is a 40 mile (64 km) round and climbs the steep terrain from Skagway to the Summit of the White Pass, a 2,865 foot rise in elevation!

Along the way you will pass many streams, waterfalls and glaciers while you will traverse your way through many tunnels and gorges,

There is a conductor on board that provides you with a narrative of the sites and you will be told about many stories and adventures from days gone by.

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The 2-hour Skagway Street Car Tour is reasonably priced and offers an insight into the historical aspects of the town. It is also an excellent opportunity to sit back, relax and be shown around the area while taking your photos. You can always go back and visit any of the sites at the end of the tour.

The costumed conductor gets you into the Klondike Gold Rush days and his narrative is very informative.

Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding were all ex Presidents of the USA. They have all been to Skagway and were all made honorary members of the Arctic Brotherhood. This tour makes a big thing of this fact and during your tour you are also made an honorary member of the Brotherhood!

The tours are geared around the cruise industry and therefore they depart from the pier area daily during the cruise season. The departures are at 08:30, 10:45, 13:15, and 15:30.

In 1899 the Arctic Brotherhood build this impressive meeting hall, which is said to be the most photographed building in all of Alaska.

This impressive building, located in the main street of downtown Skagway, was built by the original members who collected over 8,500 sticks that had drifted and settled on the shore around town.

Today, the Arctic Brotherhood Building is home to the Skagway tourist information center and no visit to Skagway would be complete without a visit to this unique piece of architecture.

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During the Gold Rush days, The Red Onion saloon was a local “watering hole’” Bordello and dance hall. It was designed to part the miners of their money by filling them full if “liquid courage,” have a girl ask them to dance before taking them upstairs to one of the 10 rooms!

Now days, The Red Onion Brothel Museum is filled with gold rush memorabilia and still offers a $5 tour of the venue.

The museum advises that many of the items that are actually on display were on display in the original brothel.

Skagway is a lot smaller than Juneau and is quite compact, yet is is similar in the way that the mountains make you feel closed in as they dwarf to town.

Our ship docked virtually in the centre of town and the road from the dock to the centre of town is approx. 500 yards. The land in town is flat and the walk is very easy.

Right beside the dock is the “local” ferry terminal where you can take a ferry to Haines or further a field.

Skagway was the second Alaskan port of call for the Sea Princess. We have sailed overnight from Juneau and we were steaming through deep waters that had been carved out over millions of years. The towering snow capped mountains led us toward Skagway which, like Juneau, was dwarfed by these massive mountains.

Once again, we were up early and the cloudless skies welcomed in yet another perfect day for our Alaskan odyssey.

The Mascot Saloon is a Skagway saloon that was restored by the National Park Service to its appearance at the turn of the century. It is not an operating saloon anymore, so you can take the kids into it.

Skagway is the location of the Yukon Gold Rush National Historical Site, which includes a collection of restored buildings and a small, but interesting museum. The museum features exhibits about the Klondike Gold Rush and the Skagway area's role in it. If you want to understand the history of Skagway, this is an excellent place to begin. Our favorite parts of the museum were the 3-dimensional model of the routes between Skagway and the Yukon, which gave you a good feel for the severity of the terrain, and the exhibit which showed how much gear a would-be miner would have to buy and lug across the mountains before being allowed into the Yukon.