The Secrets of Carcross REVEALED!

A view of Carcross from Nares Mountain. On the left you can see the Carcross Narrows!

Carcross is a Yukon town of about 300 people nestled between Lake Bennett and Nares Lake. Located about 50 miles north of Skagway, it is a popular stop on many shore excursions to the Yukon. In today’s blog, we are going to explore the mysteries of Carcross and then reveal them! Pretty exciting stuff!

“So, I’m guessing a lot of cars cross through Carcross.”

Indeed, they do because Carcross is located on the Klondike Highway but that’s not how it got its name, smartypants. You see, Carcross was originally called Caribou Crossing by the Carcross/Tagish First Nations people that lived there for thousands of years. It’s original First Nations name was “Naataase Heen,” which means “water running through the narrows.” The Carcross narrows connects Lake Bennet to Nares Lake and it’s a great place to catch trout and grayling.

A massive caribou herd migrated along the narrows every year, which is why it was eventually named Caribou Crossing by prospectors traveling through the area in 1896. During the Klondike Gold Rush, invaders killed almost all of the caribou because they were greedy jerks. Today, Carcross’s caribou population is estimated to be around 450. That’s not a lot but it’s a whole lot better than nothing.

Still, the decimation of the caribou population had nothing to do with the town’s name change. You see, in 1904 the name was changed to Carcross even though there weren’t any cars or roads. The Caribou Regional District in British Columbia kept getting their mail mixed up with Carcross and they were none too happy about it. So Caribou Crossing was changed to Carcross and that was that.

In 1984, the highway was completed and people thought they were very clever for assuming the town got its name because of the cars crossing through. Boy, do they feel silly now!

Let’s talk about the train trestle

An old-looking train trestle crosses the Carcross Narrows. This is part of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway and its modern-day northernmost point. When the trestle was built in 1900, it was an engineering marvel because it could rotate on its access to allow sternwheelers to pass through the narrows.

This is a shot of the rotating train trestle from the early days.

The town of Bennett was located on the shores of Lake Bennett but anything shipped by boat had to pass through the narrows to reach Tagish Lake. White Pass spent a lot of money to build the rotating trestle and it was one of a kind. After the trestle was built, the first sternwheeler passed from Lake Bennet to Nares Lake and everyone patted themselves on the back for being so smart. Then they realized that the town of Bennett now had a railroad, rendering the trestle immediately obsolete. It was the only time the rotating trestle was ever used. This is a good lesson on the importance of planning.

What about fishing?

I do a lot of fishing in this area because there is plenty of fish to catch. Lake trout cruise through the narrows as they move between different lakes. I’ve seen some giant lake trout in the narrows. The biggest I’ve caught is about 15 pounds but I saw one I thought was an otter a few years back.

There are thousands of grayling in the narrows during the spring. They are easy to catch and delicious when fried and served with eggs over easy. That’s called “doing it right.”

What about the caribou?

Are caribou still seen around Carcross? You bet they are! I know this because a massive caribou ran into the side of my car on Christmas Eve about ten years ago. I was driving maybe 2 miles per hour but the caribou still did a lot of damage to the car. A caribou is nothing more than a wild reindeer and for a while, I was worried about the heavy implications of running over a reindeer on Christmas Eve.

No worry. The caribou was fine. I guess I got a little off track here but I hope you enjoyed these secrets of Carcross as they were revealed.

Merry Christmas from everyone here at M&M Tours.