Yukon dog sledding holiday, Canada

The experience staged here is fittingly harmonized with this land’s history and the meeting of cultures it has made possible since the Gold Rush days. The ranch offers simple comforts without running water nor electricity. We use propane lighting; we burn wood for heat, much like the first visitors of European stock did in the late 19th century. If the rugged northern landscape of the Yukon River basin maintains much of its wilderness character today, this operation only enhances it for visitors.

Our trips are not escorted by snowmobiles or any type of motor vehicles. Snowmobiles are used only for emergencies and sometimes to haul supplies to the camp. Transportation is by dog sled and horse only. The impact on the environment is minimal in the sense that we take out everything we bring onto the land. Refuse and human waste are bagged.

Conservation officers come out regularly to monitor our activities, which are licensed by a territorial wilderness tourism regulatory body which requires us to submit annual reports on everything from the number of guides we use and their qualifications, to the number of guests we take over the land and the specific areas we visit with them throughout the year. Trip duration and type, as well as any secondary activity we might engage in while guests are with us are also reported as part of this process.

Because of the way we run our trips, the Kwanlin Dunn First Nation allows us to travel over their land for part of our journeys. We, in turn, give them access to our land. Dog sledding is an integral element of the local culture throughout Yukon. It allows travellers to look at the land through a different lens, one that engages participants in a profound manner; one that capitalizes on the ancestral relationship between humans and their domesticated canine friends.

Most of the guides are native to the area, they keep coming back to lead trips year after year because of the income, but also because of the opportunity this responsible tourism offering provides the staff and guests to help preserve a tradition that is very much part of the cultural fabric of the Yukon Territory.