One of the best parts about backpacking Chilkoot trail is the fact that it is not just a wilderness and outdoors experience. It is also a real-life history lesson. The trail is historic, and there is evidence of its history all along the approximately 33-mile length of the trail, which passes through both Canada and Alaska.

While backpacking Chilkoot trail, you will see plenty of physical evidence of the massive rush of people that poured across the trail at the end of the 19th century, chasing stories of incredible wealth. There are haunting ghost towns along the trail, where prospective miners settled or stopped for a short time, and where service industries arose to make money off of the newcomers. There are also smaller bits of evidence, like century-old boots and mining tools.

Backpacking Chilkoot Trail Today
Most of the abandoned equipment you'll see when backpacking Chilkoot trail today is to be found along the famous "golden staircase." This is the greatest obstacle the trail had to offer. The trail rises over a thousand feet in about half a mile, and does so at such a steep angle that many prospective miners gave up here and discarded their goods. The climb was treacherous and too tough for many thousands of people.

Backpacking Chilkoot trail today usually means traveling from Dyea to Lake Bennett in British Columbia, Canada. However, this was not the end of the trail for the gold rushers. Once they reached Bennett, there still lay a three week journey along the river, through dangerous rapids, before arriving at the gold mines. Most of those who finally made the journey never had a chance to strike it rich, as the gold rush was generally a bust.

Read Next 5 Articles
Guided Chilkoot Trail
Gold Rush History
Gold Rush Tours
Whitehorse Hiking
Yukon Hiking