If you’re planning to visit Yukon, we already assume you’re up for something a little out of the ordinary. So here are four unique ways to get a true Yukon experience.

  1. Win a prize by freezing your hair – Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs is a place dedicated to relaxation. Unless you’re there during the International Hair Freezing Contest when the pools turn into a frenzy of hair-freezing fanatics. The event takes place during the Sourdough Rendezvous festival each February. But you have to keep an eye on the thermometre because it only happens when the temperature drops to -20 celsius or colder. In order to compete, contestants must wet their hair and mold it as it freezes in the frigid air. The most original hairdo wins. So think of your favourite comic book character, or make some majestic moose antlers; the key to winning is creativity.
  2. Kiss a toe – Do you have what it takes to join the Sourtoe Cocktail Club? Then head down to the historic Downtown Hotel in Dawson City to find out. But a word to the wise, this isn’t some cutesy cocktail with too much citrus. There’s a toe, an actual human toe, in the drink. The first toe belonged to a miner and rum runner named Louie Liken who had it amputated due to frostbite in the 1920s. He preserved it in a jar of alcohol which was then discovered by Yukon’s local Captain Dick Stevenson in 1973. This morbid mixologist brought the toe down to the Sourdough Saloon and formed the Sourtoe Cocktail Club with any who were brave enough to try it. Since that day, over 10 toes have been donated, as some have been swallowed and others were stolen from the bar. The most recent toe was donated in 2019 by former British Marine Nick Griffiths who had his amputated due to frostbite. And while it no longer lives in a literal sense, the toe lives on in the Yukon.
  3. Get lost in a Sign Post Forest – For you, history buffs, the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake was unwittingly started by a homesick U.S. soldier named Carl K. Lindley in 1942. He was instructed to repair signage in the area and did his duties well. But before he finished, Carl added one additional sign that pointed in the direction of his home. It read: Danville, Ill. 2835 miles. Since then, over 90,000 signs have been added. On your visit, you can bring your own sign, make one at the Visitor Information Centre or use the forest as a starting point for your 2835-mile trek to Danville. The choice is yours.
  4. Say hello to the ghost of Mrs. Gideon – The Caribou Hotel in Carcross has become a well-known stop for travellers over the last century, but it’s perhaps most famous for its long-standing squatter: the ghost of Mrs. Gideon. The hotel has been around since the early 1900s when it was opened by the Gideon family. But while the original family members have moved on, many eyewitnesses claim Mrs. Gideon hasn’t. Her ghost is known for knocking on doors and appearing in rooms late at night, which is totally creepy. But hey, she’s a ghost, and that’s kind of their thing.