Chilkoot Trail closed in U.S. until at least August because of flood damage

If you've been waiting the last few years to hike the famous Chilkoot Trail in its entirety — well, you may need to wait a bit longer.

The American portion of the historic international trail is expected to remain closed until at least late summer this year — and even then, it may only be "partially" open to hikers.

Officials with the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska say parts of the trail and infrastructure were heavily damaged by floods last fall, and it will take time to repair. Sections of boardwalk along the trail have been damaged and bridges washed out.

"It really did a number on the Chilkoot Trail," said park superintendent Angela Wetz.

"There's a lot of work ahead of us. It's going to take probably three years to do all the repairs, but we're working as hard as we can to at least get a partial opening on the trail."

The 53-kilometre trail from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett Lake in the Yukon is sometimes referred to as the "world's longest museum." It was made famous in the 1890s when thousands of gold seekers who landed at Skagway, Alaska, trudged up and over the Chilkoot Pass on their way to the Klondike. Objects discarded by weary stampeders can still be seen here and there along the way.

Most of the flood damage is at Dyea and the initial sections of the trail. The Dyea Flats Road was also washed out last fall. The damaged bridges on the trail are the biggest issue, Wetz said, with some areas being simply too dangerous to cross without a bridge.

All the repairs are expected to cost around $2 million US ($2.7 million Cdn). Wetz said the funding has already been secured.

"Now we just need time and the weather and staffing and everything to cooperate so that we can get it back open as soon as possible," she said.

Parks officials in Alaska should know by next month whether a "partial" opening of the trail might be possible by August. 

"There are some tent pads that are impacted, and there might be some areas that are still under construction but are still passable. That's what I mean by 'partial opening,'" Wetz said.

Parks officials in Canada, meantime, expect the Chilkoot National Historic Site — the Canadian portion of the trail — to be open to summer hiking permits as of June 1.

But the closure in Alaska is a disappointment for anybody who's been waiting for the chance to experience the whole trail. That hasn't been possible for the last three years because of pandemic-related border restrictions.

"We were super excited to bring back visitors and be able to hike through the whole Chilkoot through the U.S. side and Canada this year, post-COVID. Everybody was super-stoked — and then the flooding happened," Wetz said.

"If you can't get across those two bridges at the beginning of the trail, it's going to have to be closed at that site, unfortunately."