Situated near the start of the famous Dempster Highway, Canada's only all-season public road to cross the Arctic Circle, Tombstone Park offers a land like no other with its haunting landscape memorable for its jagged peaks and colour-stained hills. While just a few miles north is a land referred to as Beringia, the only area in much of North America that wasn't under ice during the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago, the granite Tombstones have been scoured by ice and weather into stalagmite-like peaks and pinnacles that rise high from the tundra carpet. Yukon, about the size of France, is part mountains, part boreal forest and part tundra. All these environments crash together in wonderfully scenic confusion in Tombstone Park.
So here, amidst the mountain majesty, are ridges, valleys, passes, meadows, lakes and creeks. But it's also the minerals and plants and bird and animal life that fascinate. And all amid an endless carpet of tundra that changes colours with the season. This is one of a kind.
Exploring Tombstone Park can involve anything from short hikes off the highway, to long backpacking and mountain climbing trips in the back country. There is one established trail, Grizzly Creek, which is the quickest way into the core of the Tombstone Range. The trail stops at Grizzly Lake where tent pads, cooking station and an outhouse are provided for visitors. The rest of the Park has no established trails into the back country. However on some well-travelled routes, sections of trail can be found, but in general, travel in the park will be a challenge to your orienteering skills. There are as an alternative a few tour companies that offer guided trips both day and multi-day into the backcountry including helicopter trips into the heart of the mountain range. The friendly and knowledgeable staff at the Tombstone Interpretive Centre will provide you with everything you need from trail maps to camping permits. Drop in for a cup of 'Mountain Wild' tea by the fire, visit the library, take part in an interpretive program or special event and enjoy the informative displays. Expect to drive 1.5 hours from Dawson City, or seven hours from Whitehorse.
Don't forget that in the Yukon, under the Midnight Sun of summer, the lights are on almost 24 hours a day so there are things to do and see long after you've run out of the strength to do them!
Yukon territorial parks are unique in that they are co-managed by the First Nation in whose traditional territories the parks are located and territorial parks now protect some 10% of the total Yukon landmass. This park is a legacy of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in land claim agreement and lies within their traditional territory.
