Award-winning journalist Stephanie Wallcraft is hitting the road in an Escape 19 with her daughter to complete their Parks Canada Xplorers collection. Follow along, and watch for her stories on Driving.ca after the journey!

July 28

Greetings from the North! I’m Stephanie Wallcraft, a professional automotive and road trip travel journalist, and I’m taking a 19-foot Escape Trailer through Northern British Columbia, the Yukon, and (if conditions allow) past the Arctic Circle and up to the Arctic Ocean. Why are we doing this? For the past 10 years, my daughter and I have been visiting Parks Canada sites across the country and collecting the medallions from their Xplorers program for kids. This road trip is the last one, where we’ll gather these from two national parks, five national historic sites, and one national landmark to complete our collection of more than 100! This time around, our journey started in Edmonton. The first couple of days have seen us camp in Dawson Creek, starting at Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway as we’ve traveled it all the way through Northern BC to arrive in Whitehorse. We discovered a beautiful first-come-first-served campsite at Summit Lake Campground in BC’s Stone Mountain Provincial Park, and we also stopped for a soak in the Liard River Hot Springs. From here, it’s time to Xplore and get to know the Escape Trailer. I hope you’ll follow along!

We’ve spent the last three days exploring The Yukon in this Escape Trailer and visiting Parks Canada places along the way!
 
Our first stop was in Whitehorse to visit S.S. Klondike National Historic Site, one of Canada’s last remaining steam-powered paddlewheel ships that shuttled passengers and cargo along the Yukon River. The ship is currently closed to the public due to a multi-year restoration project, but the staff have set up an educational escape room that’s a lot of fun!
 
Next, we headed west to Haines Junction to visit Kluane National Park. This spectacular park and the provincial, and state parks that surround it collectively protect the largest non-polar ice field in the world. The campground here at Kathleen Lake is quite rustic as frontcountry campgrounds go with no services and no running water, but the beautiful glacier lake surrounded by towering mountains is breathtaking and absolutely worth the trip.
 
And finally, we’re in Dawson City, the famous home of one of the last great 19th-century gold rushes. The entire town here is designated as a national historic site. It’s the second-largest in Canada and the only site where the designated historic complex is still a working town. There’s plenty to explore here, from government buildings to saloons and even the impact of the gold rush on the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation that already occupied these lands when thousands of colonizers descended on them. Plus, just a few minutes outside of town, one of the massive gold dredging and harvesting machines can be explored via a guided tour at Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site.
 
Now, the most challenging part of our journey begins as we attempt to reach the Arctic Ocean by driving the Dempster Highway. I hope you’ll follow along!