Old Way of Seeing: Easy Overnight Whitehorse Bikepacking Route

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:

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

1. 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/
2. 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.
3. 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)
4. Take McLean Lake Road up to the Copper Haul Road - we detoured via McLean Lake itself to avoid going through the gravel pits.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Three Wheels or Less includes bikes!
  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.

Day 2 - Carcross Corner back to Whitehorse, via Winterlong Brewing

Ride with GPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36006688

Trail access from Arctic Dr.
1. Access the Golden Horn trail network by taking a warm-up cruise through the country residential roads of Golden Horn subdivision - Empress Road to Arctic Drive. At the cul-de-sac end of Arctic Drive continue north on what looks like a private drive, but it actually a public access - just keep going straight.
2. Look for a quad trail turning off left after heading downhill for about 600 m after leaving the cul-de-sac. A short, steep push will get you up to the pretty Golden Horn neighborhood trails (Trailforks calls it the Yukon RC Modellers Airfield area)
3. Enjoy the easy, generally flat perimeter trail, enjoying views of picturesque, almost perfectly circular sinkholes (technically glacial kettles) and nice views to the north of Grey Mountain and Golden Horn mountain. The key is to take a right at every intersection until you reach the RC airfield.
4. Cross the highway and zig left (east) 100 m, then turn south into the former KMA racetrack area. Follow the trails out of the southeast corner to connect up with cul-de-sac of Sockeye Place. Trails are a bit tricky here, just take the last left along the ridge before you reach the houses, this will be a short single track->quad trail leading to Sockeye Place.
5. Then meander through the residential roads of the Cowley Creek and Mary Lake country residential subdivisions, but take a right when you get to Fireweed Drive and follow it to the playground.
6. At the playground, turn left (west) and explore the inter- subdivsion trails through pleasant open pine forest to arrive at Lupin Place. The trails are a bit of a maze, but it is worth working your way through here to avoid the unnecessary (and boring) hill on Fireweed Drive.
7. Get to the Mary Lake / Wolf Creek trail starting at the intersection of Fireweed Drive and Booth Road (Cadet Camp access road).
8. Cross Wolf Creek on the railway bridge and follow the "rail trail" paralleling the railway along the length of Wolf Creek subdivision. This is a surprisingly fun easy cruising trail with some creek crossings and a bridge leading to Nunatak Place.
9. Keep heading north through the residential roads of Whitehorse Copper & Mt. Sima subdivisions. If you want to maximize your gravel, take a short detour at Esker Drive and you can ride a short piece of the former Copper Mines Branch railway before returning to Moraine Drive.
10. Stop at Winterlong Brewing for a refreshment(s), then backtrack to McFadden Way and
  cross the Alaska Highway to reach the railway again. Turn north on the trail that parallels the railway. Keep following the old railway grade because although rough, you will avoid some sandy hills. You will arrive at a great viewpoint overlooking Miles Canyon. The railway was realigned closer to the highway in the 1960s due to a landslide in this area, thus abandoning this section of the railway grade.
11. Follow Miles Canyon Road down to reach the Robert Lowe suspension bridge, first bridge built across the Yukon River.
12. Easy crusing back to town on the Chadburn Lake ski trails - take the Yellow to Red ski trails to reach the ski trail parking lot, cross Chadburn Lake Road and stay left to follow the Yellow ski trail another 1.1 km north.
13. Cross back over the Chadburn Lake road to reach the Yukon River trail and follow the single track northward along the edge of Schwatka Lake until you can go no further. Take the last right and a set of single track switch backs take you up to the top of the Chadburn Lake Road hill.
14. Lastly, follow Millennium Trail back to downtown Whitehorse, crossing the Centennial Bridge at the famous White Horse Rapids (also to admire Yukon's largest renewable energy facility, the 40MW Whitehorse Rapids Generating Station--also, take a detour to visit the world's longest wooden fish ladder.)