Bonanza Creek
The original Yukon gold strike and some of the richest pay dirt in the world were found on Bonanza Creek, an otherwise-insignificant tributary flowing north into the Klondike River. A century's worth of mining has left the streambed piled into an orderly chaos of gravel heaps, the result of massive dredges. The national park service has preserved and interpreted a number of old prospecting sites; however, most of the land along Bonanza Creek is owned privately, so don't trespass, and by no means should you casually gold-pan.

The Discovery Claim, about 16km (10 miles) up Bonanza Creek Road, is the spot, now marked by a National Historic Sites cairn, where George Carmack, Skookum Jim, and Tagish Charlie found the gold that unleashed the Klondike Stampede in 1896. They staked out the first four claims (the 4th partner, Bob Henderson, wasn't present). Within a week, Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks had been staked out from end to end, but none of the later claims matched the wealth of the first. Just over 12km (7 1/2 miles) up Bonanza Creek, Parks Canada has preserved Dredge No. 4, one of the largest gold dredges ever used in North America; it's open June through early to mid-September daily 9am to 5pm, with tours offered hourly to 4pm. Dredges–which augured up the permafrost, washed out the fine gravel, and sifted out the residual gold–were used after placer miners had panned out the easily accessible gold along the creek. Dredge No. 4 began operation in 1913 and could dig and sift 13,800 cubic m (18,000 cubic yd.) in 24 hours, thus doing the work of an army of prospectors. You can do some free panning yourself at Claim 6, 14km (9 miles) up Bonanza Road. Bring your own pan (BYOP)!

The next drainage up from Bonanza Creek is Bear Creek, which became the headquarters for the dredge gold mining that dominated the Klondike area from 1905 to 1965, after the bloom went off placer mining. Parks Canada has developed a 65-building interpretive site that explores the history of industrial mining, including a dredge, a hydraulic monitor, and a gold mill, where the gold nuggets were cleaned, melted down, and cast into bullion. The turnoff for Bear Creek Historic Mining Camp is about 11km (7 miles) south of Dawson City, off the Klondike Highway. The site is open dawn to dusk from June through the first week of September, and two tours of the gold mill are given daily, at 1:30 and 2:30pm.

Dawson City Museum
The beautiful 1901 neo-classical Old Territorial Administration Building--a newly designated National Historic Site of Canada-- harbors the Dawson City Museum, the largest historical collection in the Yukon Territory.The Dawson City Museum has three main galleries, using objects and photographs to tell the story of the people through the fantastic Gold Rush to the present day.

There is a Reference Library with 7,000 photographs and records for genealogical research; a coffee shop and gift shop. The museum is animated with "Klondike Characters" who give dramatic interpretive demonstrations. Exhibits include an in-depth look at Dawson's social and mining history, material culture of the Hän First Nations People, the half-century before the discovery of gold in 1896, Gold Rush era, steam locomotives, and paleontological remains. Performances and audio-visual presentations happen every hour, including the award-winning NFB film "City of Gold", narrated by Pierre Berton.

Jack London's Cabin and Interpretive Centre
American adventure writer Jack London lived in the Yukon less than a year–he left in June 1898 after a bout with scurvy–but his writings immortalized the North, particularly the animal stories like The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Son of Wolf. The cabin, a replica, contains more than 60 photos, documents, newspaper articles and other London memorabilia. Yukon author Dick North, who was instrumental in the creation of the historic site, serves as an interpreter at the center.

Diamond Tooth Gerties
A place where visitors and locals alike gather to try their luck at the gambling tables and enjoy the nightly entertainment. Most attractions and facilities are open by the second week of May with the peak season from mid-June to mid -August. Information from this section found at

Midnight Dome
You haven’t seen Dawson unless you drive to the Dome. The Midnight Dome is the distinctive hill that rears up behind Dawson City. It's named because from its summit at midnight on June 21 you can watch the sun dip to the horizon before rising again straight away – Dawson being only 300km south of the Arctic Circle . The Midnight Dome Road runs 8km to its summit (884m) from the Klondike Hwy just out of the town proper.  Enjoy the massive views over Dawson, the gold fields, the Yukon's broad meanders and the ranks of mountains stretching away in all directions. At the summer solstice there's a race to the top and lots of drink-sodden and fancy-dress festivities down in Dawson . Gold City Tours also run regular daytime and evening tours up here.