Summary: Easy, overnight gravel bikepacking tour route for "credit-card camping" from downtown Whitehorse.
- Total trip distance ~90 km
- Day 1 route goes south towards Cowley Lake, avoiding highways except for the last 10 km. You'll end up at the very nice Yukon Motorcycle Park to overnight where they welcome "three wheels or less". Stay in the wall tents (with beds!) and enjoy a hearty dinner at Wolf's Den restaurant.
- Day 2 is shorter, starting with some easy trail riding and lunch at Winterlong Brewing. Route avoids the highway and is a mix of trail (including some single-track) and rural roads. Return to Whitehorse crossing the emerald waters of Miles Canyon.
The idea:
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| Cozy wall tents (with beds!) at Yukon Motorcycle Park |
I wanted a local overnight bike tour that was easy, but I didn't need to camp (I hate tent camping). Thus, the new Yukon Motorcycle Park is perfect for that! Owner Bruce Martin is happy to have "three wheels or less" and provides cozy wall tents with beds and bedding. Plus the Wolf's Den restaurant has hearty dinner and off-sales for beer around the fire pit.
The route is designed to avoid highway as much as possible, but still be an easy off-road ride with friends. AND be able to stop for beers along the way. Day 1 is about 50 km, and Day 2 is easier at about 35 km so you can have a leisurely morning and not be too early to stop for beer at Winterlong.
Route Overview:
The route doesn't necessarily need to go to Cowley Lake, I just called it that because it is the southern most extent of the route.
Day 1 - Whitehorse to Carcross Corner via Cowley Lake:
Ride with GPS link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35929642
- Starting from downtown Whitehorse, head around the north end of the airport and through the trails between Hillcrest and Granger. Stop in and visit Nicole Bauberger's outdoor art gallery https://www.trailforks.com/trails/dalton-trail-trail-gallery/
- Pass through the residential subdivisions of Granger and Copper Ridge - stop for any missing supplies, snacks or coffee after making the big climb, at Bigway Foods in Granger.
- Take any of the three trails from Granger southward over to McLean Lake Road (we chose the longer, but nicer and less climb trail to the west that Trailforks calls "Midnight Access" - you can actually link that with the lower part of Sparky, then back to Midnight Run and pretty much avoid all the climbing and twisty single track)
- Take McLean Lake Road up to the Copper Haul Road - we detoured via McLean Lake itself to avoid going through the gravel pits.
- Follow the Copper Haul Road all the way south to the Wolf Creek bridge. We stopped for lunch at Mt. Sima ski hill and took advantage of their chairs and pick-nick tables.
- Continue south from Wolf Creek on the Great Trail (formerly the Trans Canada Trail) on what is called the Pipeline Road. If it has been wet or it is early in the season, there can be some pretty good puddles on the trail. We got wet feet.
- Follow the Pipeline Road (or Annie Lake trail as Trailforks calls the southern portion) till the overlook over Cowley Lake (just so you can say you saw the lake), then turn around and head back to the bridge over Cowley Creek.
- On the south side of the small bridge over Cowley Creek, follow the quad trail east / northeast till you reach the White Pass & Yukon Route railway tracks at the former location of Cowley Station. This short bit of trail can be swampy, so you might need to bushwack a bit to get around the wet spots. But it is just a short distance, and once you are there, it is all roads from here to the end.
- After crossing the tracks, you can access Cowley Lake Road by passing south of the private property. Follow Cowley Lake Road to the Klondike Highway.
- From here it is 10 km north up Klondike Highway to Carcross Corner. If you are lucky, the prevailing wind is from the south and you might get a nice tailwind like we got. You can also stop for a swim at Kookatsoon Lake to refresh before reaching camp.
There is a good quad trail on the north side of the Alaska Highway so you can stay on gravel for the last kilometre to camp.
Three Wheels or Less includes bikes!
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