Kluane National Park: Canada's Highest Mountains

Kluane National Park is the Yukon's great wilderness — 22,000 square kilometres of the St. Elias Mountains, the largest non-polar icefield in the world, and Canada's highest peak, 5,959-metre Mount Logan. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most dramatic landscapes on the continent. Here's the guide.

The icefield and Mount Logan The park's heart is the Kaskawulsh Glacier and the icefield behind it — 4,000 metres thick in places, feeding rivers of ice that reach the valleys. Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain, rises from it — visible only from the air or a major expedition. The flightseeing tour from Haines Junction is the way most people see it.

Flightseeing The single best experience in the park — a small plane or helicopter out of Haines Junction over the icefield, Mount Logan, and the Lowell Glacier. Book it; it's the only way to grasp the scale. An hour in the air is the Yukon highlight for many visitors.

Kathleen Lake and day hikes The only easy access — Kathleen Lake, with the campground, the beach, and the start of the trails. The King's Throne hike (a hanging cirque above the lake) is the day hike; the Dezadeash River Trail is the flat one. The park has no roads beyond the Kathleen Lake access.

The Alaska Highway and the approach The park fronts the Alaska Highway — the drive from Haines Junction gives you the mountain views (and the Kluane visitor centre). The surrounding Kluane wildlife — grizzly bears, Dall sheep, moose — is on the highway.

When to go June to September for trail access and flightseeing; September for fall colour; winter for skiing and aurora. Much of the park is inaccessible in winter. The flightseeing season is May to September.

Good to know The park is a 1.5-hour drive west of Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway. There are no services in the park — fuel and stock up in Haines Junction. And this is serious wilderness — backcountry requires registration and bear awareness.