Waterfalls, Remote Goldrush Towns & More Waterfalls!

Stikine Region, British Columbia

Morley Lake Rec Site 

Leaving behind Watson Lake in the Yukon, we drove about 3 hours west along Alaskan Highway dipping down one last time into BC on our way to Morley Lake which is right at the border of BC.  This will finish our time in British Columbia until we leave Alaska in September.

We stop along the way at the Rancheria Falls near Teslin, Yukon.  The boardwalk takes you through a stand of black and white spruce boreal forest.

The water appears brown due to a lot of decay of the forest around it.

It was a tricky drive down a steep, muddy road to get to Morley Lake, but it turned out perfect!

We took a chance and ended up right on the lake of the rec site/memorial.  We found this and most of our great sites on Campendium.  Free to camp!

There is enough room for maybe 10 rigs along the small inlet on the lake.  I would not bring a trailer, even a small one, down here.  There really isn't room to turn around.  We were the only ones here, but not for long.  Two more campers came down later in the day and another small rental motorhome.

If you hike along the lake opposite the camping area, you will find a memorial for William H. Whitfield.  It was dedicated to him and three others who lost their lives during their service on the Alaska Highway.

There are also a couple spots to hike in and tent camp.

Still a little ice along the shoreline.

It was too cold to paddle but it would've been a great spot for it.  There is a small cabin only accessible by boat.

A bit further down the road and we cross the Nisutlin Bay Bridge.  It is the longest bridge on the Alaskan Highway at 1900 feet across.  It is 70 years old and at the end of its lifespan.  They are in the process of replacing it and hope to have the new bridge finished in 2026.

We have some extra days and decided we wanted to veer off our course to see the remote town of Atlin.  It is located in the far northwest corner of BC.  We turn south off of the Alaskan Hwy onto a short connector to Atlin Rd/Rt 7.  We see another grizzly bear along the way and almost no other vehicles.  It's like we still have the roads to ourselves.

The town has about 400 hundred residents and calls itself, The Switzerland of the North as it sits along the shore of the largest freshwater lake in British Columbia, Atlin Lake. The Coastal Mountain Range is across the lake from the town.  We stop by for a few very expensive groceries and the visitors center.

Unfortunately, it was closed, but we could walk around ourselves and learn about the gold mining of the past and present.

An old Keystone Drill from the 1870s.

They have restored many of the old buildings.  Some have been turned into personal residences.

There are many bright colored homes.

And some unique ones.

Kershaw's Hardware store was built after the 1914 fire destroyed most of Atlin.

Gold was discovered on remote Pine Creek in February of 1898 by Fritz Miller and Kenny McLaren.

It was still pretty cold with the snow and ice having just melted.  The town was beginning to wake up and getting ready for the summer season.  This coffee shop was just restored and open for business.  So far, the young owner only has coffees and teas, but soon will be adding pastries and some food.  

The inside was adorable!  Tin ceilings, wood floors, plenty of ambiance.  The outdoor seating area was cute and had blankets we could use for out laps to keep warm.

The Tarahne was built in 1917 for the tourist season.  She was later cut in half and 41 feet were added in the middle making room for 200 more passengers.  The crash of the stock market killed the tourism and she was closed down.  Furnishings were sold and she was boarded up.  Over the years there have been efforts to restore the ship and she is now open for tours in the summer.  

The Atlinto was used for tours and hauling supplies in the early 1900s.  It was beached in the 50s.

What a fantastic view on the waterfront where we walked.

Some poppies were just starting to bloom as well as wild rhubarb.

After a long morning of walking sleepy Atlin, we headed to our camp but first we stopped to see the Spruce Creek Falls.  They fell from one pool to another.

Roaring Spruce Creek Falls

We then passed the old Discovery Ghost Town.  It existed to support the gold mining in the late 1800s.  It reached 1000 residents but then died out and abandoned in 1915.  Some wood structures and mining equipment still remain.

The area has been mined heavily over the years.  Piles of tailings are all around the river.  I'm sure the river was dug up and changed over the years.

Atlin, British Columbia

Surprise Lake Rec Site

Another steep, rocky road down led us to a small opening of grass where we camped on Surprise Lake.  There is room for about 4 vehicles.  I would not bring any type of trailer down here.  It's free to camp.  There is an outhouse and a couple of scattered picnic tables and fire rings.

We had hoped to kayak and fish but the weather was still cold and the winds that came up quickly would not have made it very comfortable.  We tried fishing from shore and gold panning but got skunked on both.  We did hike a bit an found a geocache.

After our stay we headed back to Atlin then north again to catch back up onto the Alaskan Highway.  The town of Atlin has a free dump station that we decided to use.  When we come back this way we will stop and see the sand dunes.

As we pulled in we thought this dump station comes with the best views ever!

Until we saw this. Huh?

And then this.  You simply put your black dump hose into this pipe which drains directly into the pond you see.  Well that's a first!  Yuck. Surprisingly there was no smell.

Whitehorse, Yukon

Long Lake Overlook

We popped into the town of Whitehorse for a quick lunch at The Deli.  Home of Yukon Meat & Sausage.  Great lunch and we bought some Elk and Bison sausages and some bison burger meat.  We got propane, groceries, water and gas.  There are plenty of stores.  And plenty of tourists.  This is a huge stop!

Our plan was to boondock across the town and river up on an overlook.  Well, it now has a No Camping sign posted.  No fear, we drove just a bit further down the road and found another overlook.  Not the best, but in a pinch, it did just fine.  Free to boondock.  It's only for one night.

Rick and Angie's spot.

The view from the original overlook.  What a pretty lake.  Too bad they don't have a campground anywhere on this lake.  It's a perfect kayaking lake!  Oh well.  

The view of Whitehorse from our side of the Yukon River.

We parked at the Peace Park so we could tour the SS Klondike Paddlewheel.  It's one of Canada's few remaining steam powered-paddlewheelers.  The arrival of the paddlewheelers in the 1860s brought change to the territory bringing newcomers and their ways of life.  Until the 1950s, the riverboats were the link between the Yukon and the outside world.

Once again, we were unable to tour the ship.  It is in a 5-year remodel process.  We were so bummed.  At least we could watch a film at the visitor center and had a guide talk to us about it as well.  A close second.

After a long cold winter the sight of the first paddlewheeler was cause to celebrate.  Fresh food, supplies and news from abroad were anticipated.  This was before roads were built.  The Klondike I was built in1929 and was able to handle a cargo over 300 tons without needing a barge.  On her downhill run she carried freight for the Mayo Silver district.  On her return trip she'd carry silver lead ore.  Her career ended in 1939 when the boat struck a rock wall when rounding a bend and submerged on a gravel bar.  They were able to salvage much of the machinery and structures.  No one died.  Then they used those parts to build the Klondike II.  When silver prices declined with the war, she was used mostly as a passenger ship.  The operations costs were too expensive and in 1955 she was permanently docked, then later donated to the Government of Canada.

The most dangerous part of the Yukon River was crossing the Five Finger Rapids.  When the SS Klondike went through it was said you could touch the rock walls on either side.  The channel was blasted out to make it a bit wider but most river pilots winched upstream using cables fixed to the rocks.  We'll visit this exact spot in a few days.

There were other dangers too.  On another ship, the Columbian, a fireman tried to shoot some passing ducks, but accidentally discharged the gun into a load of blasting powder.  The ship exploded and six men died.  It was the worst riverboat accident in Yukon history.

The old town was very cute and we window shopped up and around the area.  There were many busts around town of famous folks.  Some well known to many and some well known to the locals.

I like that some had wardrobe additions.

There was one of those min-libraries.

We took the tour in the McBride Museum.  One of the few open this early.  See how they built the museum around the old cabin?  Pretty clever.

Colorful glass decorations hung from the lobby.

There were stuffed animals from the area, vintage clothes and lots of history.

I found this Hair Picker particularly interesting!

Mounty Studley Steveright catching Rowdy Ricky!

Whitehorse, Yukon

Wolf Creek Provincial Park

Once we were done exploring the town of Whitehorse we moved over to Wolf Creek Provincial Park.  It was pretty full.  Luckily they allowed us to both park in the last open site and thankfully it was a long pull-through.  Plus we could split the fee.  $10 each.

Our last stop while Rick and Angie ran a couple more errands was to Yukon Brewing.

They gave us a tour of their brewery and distillery.  Even though we've been on so many of these, they are always enjoyable.  And I don't even drink beer.

Part of the distillery.

The part we found the most interesting was they actually use recycled beer bottles.  They clean them out and remove the labels.  No cost to them and they save on glass purchases.  Pretty clever we thought until Steve opened a bottle and there was a tiny sliver of glass inside.  They exchanged it for him, but, still.

That wraps up Whitehorse.  A few more fun stops in the Yukon and we'll cross over into Alaska!