Carcross, Yukon

Carcross, originally Caribou Crossing, is a village in the Yukon Territory of Canada on Lake Bennett and Nares Lake. It has a population of 442 (Yukon Bureau of Statistics, Dec. 2004).

It is 64 km (40 miles) south-southeast of Whitehorse on the Klondike Highway, at 60°11′ N 134°43′ W. One end of the Tagish Road is in Carcross. Carcross is also on the White Pass and Yukon Route railway.

Carcross was a fishing and hunting camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people. 4,500-year-old artifacts from aboriginal people living in the area have been found in the region.

Carcross got its name from the migration of huge number of caribou across the small piece of land between Lake Bennett and Tagish Lake. That caribou herd was decimated during the Klondike Gold Rush, but a successful recovery program raised the number of animals to about 450.

The modern village began in 1896, during the Klondike Gold Rush. During the gold rush, Carcross was a popular stopping place for prospectors going to and from the gold fields of Dawson City.

Caribou Crossing was also a station for the Royal Mail and the Dominion Telegraph Line, and it served as a communications point on the Yukon River.

Silver mining was promoted in the area in the early 1900s, but there was little silver to be found and the attempts to find silver soon ended. Mining exploration continues today, but tourism is more important to the economy of the community.

Community profile

According to the Canada 2001 Census:

Note: this data includes both the settlement and Carcross 4 Reserve

Links

• Carcross-Tagish First Nation
• Community Profile
• History of Carcross
• A Guide to Carcross
• Southern Lakes Caribou Herd Recovery Program (PDF) 540kB