Guide Exploring Skagway, Alaska | SolarTravels.com

<body> Destination Guides > North America > USA > Alaska > Southeast Alaska > Skagway Skagway -- Sights -- Chilkoot Trail Travel Options Flights Hotels Vacation Rentals Cars • Skagway · The Town • Arrival, Information And Getting Around • Eating And Drinking • Explore Skagway • Hotels in Skagway SKAGWAY BE THERE NOW Hotels in Skagway • Westmark Inn Skagway, A Holland America Line Company Skagway from $110.00 USD • Westmark Inn Skagway, A Holland America Line Company Skagway from $110.00 USD • Westmark Inn Skagway, A Holland America Line Company Skagway from $110.00 USD More Hotels in Skagway >> READ IT HERE SKAGWAY , the northernmost ferry stop on the southeast route, sprang up overnight in 1897 as a trading post serving Klondike Gold Rush pioneers about to set off on the five-hundred-mile ordeal. It was also the last stop before the harrowing White Pass Trail, known as the "Dead Horse Trail," on which over three thousand horses perished during the winter of 1897-98 from severe weather, rugged ground and exhaustion. Having grown from one cabin to a town of twenty thousand in three months, Skagway, rife with disease and desperado violence, was reported to be "hell on earth." It boasted over seventy bars and hundreds of prostitutes, and was controlled by organized criminals, including the notorious Jefferson "Soapy" Smith , renowned for cheating hapless prospectors out of their gold. One of his scams was to operate a bogus telegraph office through which he concocted false messages from loved ones in the Lower 48 urgently demanding money, which Soapy, of course, took responsibility for sending. He finally met a nasty end in 1898 after a shoot-out with Frank Reid, head of a vigilante group. By 1899, the Gold Rush was over, but the completion in 1900 of the White Pass and Yukon Railway from Skagway to Whitehorse, the Yukon capital, ensured Skagway's survival. Today, the town's 800 residents have gone to great lengths to maintain the original appearance of their home, much of which lies in the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park , and in summer as many as five cruise ships a day call in to appreciate the effort. The Town Strolling up Broadway you can't miss the eye-catching facade of the 1899 Arctic Brotherhood Hall , decorated with over ten thousand pieces of driftwood and housing the Skagway Visitor Center. Many of the other buildings hereabouts form part of... Strolling up Broadway you can't miss the eye-catching facade of the 1899 Arctic Brotherhood Hall , decorated with over ten thousand pieces of driftwood and housing the Skagway Visitor Center. Many of the other buildings hereabouts form part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park , notably the former Mascot Saloon on Broadway (May & Sept daily 8am-6pm; June-Aug 8am-8pm; free), and Moore House , Fifth Avenue at Spring Street (May-Sept daily 10am-noon & 1-5pm; $2), now a city museum. There's further detail in the recently refurbished Skagway Museum and Archive (May-Sept daily 9am-5pm; $2) which contains the Trail of 98 Museum. About a mile and a half north of town, the Gold Rush Cemetery is the final resting place of many of the stampeders. Among them are Soapy Smith and Frank Reid, who, according to his gravestone, "gave his life for the honor of Skagway"; a local prostitute, on the other hand, is remembered for "giving her honor for the life of Skagway." If you've had enough of Soapy and his cronies, you may feel like hiking ; one of the best short trails leads from the cemetery to the 300ft high Reid Falls. The useful Skagway Trail Map , available from the visitor center, details other walks in the area, including those in the Dewey Lakes system, which pass pretty subalpine lakes and tumbling waterfalls, and the more difficult scramble uphill to Denver Glacier. Sockeye Cycles, 5th Avenue and Broadway (tel 907/983-2851, ), rents out well-maintained mountain bikes , and the neighboring Mountain Shop (tel 907/983-2544) rents and sells backpacking supplies. A lazier way to take in the scenery is on the White Pass and Yukon Route railway (early May to late Sept; 3-7 departures daily; tel 907/983-2217 or 1-800/343-7373, ), which follows the gushing Skagway River upstream past waterfalls and ice-packed gorges and over a 1000ft high wooden trestle bridge, stopping at the Canadian border ($82 round-trip) before occasionally continuing on to Lake Bennett, British Columbia ($128). There's no shortage of riders, so get there early and grab a seat on the left-hand side going up. The company also offers a through bus service to Whitehorse after a train ride to Fraser, British Columbia ($95 one-way). </body>