Skagway Audio Walking Tour
Eight Gold Rush stops from the cruise docks, read aloud as you arrive. About 1.5 miles and 1 to 2 hours, and it works without signal.
Start uses your phone's location to tell you when you reach each stop; your location stays on your phone. You can also tap any stop to hear it. Keep the screen on while you walk. Narration is read by your phone's own voice, so turn the volume up.
The line joins the stops in order; follow the streets. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
1Start: Broadway Dock
Welcome to Skagway. In the summer of 1897 this was a near-empty tideflat; within a year, tens of thousands of gold seekers bound for the Klondike passed through, and Skagway grew into a town of thousands almost overnight. Walk up Broadway, the main street ahead of you. Watch for the railroad tracks near the docks, where trains still run. Our first stop is the old railroad depot at Broadway and Second Avenue.
2The railroad depot and park visitor center
291 BroadwayThis is the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad depot, built in 1898. The railway was blasted over White Pass to carry miners and freight north toward the Yukon. Today the depot is the visitor center of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. It's free, with Gold Rush exhibits and the park film. The trains themselves now leave from the newer depot next door.
3Jeff. Smith's Parlor
2nd Ave, just west of BroadwayJust west on Second Avenue is Jeff. Smith's Parlor. Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith ran this saloon in 1898, and his gang worked cons on newcomers all over town. On July 8, 1898, Smith was shot in a gunfight with Frank Reid on the Juneau Wharf. Reid died of his wounds days later. Both men are buried in the Gold Rush Cemetery north of town. The Park Service restored the parlor as a museum.
4The Red Onion Saloon
201 Broadway, at 2nd AveBack on Broadway, the Red Onion opened in 1898 as a saloon downstairs and a brothel upstairs. It still serves food and drinks, and the upstairs rooms are a brothel museum you can tour.
5Arctic Brotherhood Hall
245 BroadwayLook up at this facade, covered in thousands of pieces of driftwood. The Arctic Brotherhood was a fraternal order founded by gold seekers in 1899, and this was their hall. Today it holds Skagway's visitor information center, a good place for maps and today's events.
6Mascot Saloon
Broadway & 3rd AveSkagway had dozens of saloons during the rush. The Mascot opened in 1898, and the Park Service has restored it to show a Gold Rush bar. Step inside; it's free.
7Moore House and Cabin
5th Ave & Spring StCaptain William Moore and his son Ben claimed this land in 1887, a decade before the rush, betting that a route over White Pass would one day matter. Their 1887 log cabin is the oldest building in Skagway; Ben and his wife Minnie built the house in front of it in 1897. The Park Service has restored both.
8Skagway Museum
700 Spring StThis granite building was built around 1900 as McCabe College, and later served as a federal courthouse. Today it holds the Skagway Museum, with Gold Rush and Alaska Native collections, and city hall. From here, walk back down Broadway to the docks, about 12 minutes. Thanks for walking with Skagway Times.
Tour text by Skagway Times, drawn from the National Park Service's Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park pages linked at each stop. Opening hours for the museums change by season; check at the visitor center.