Tombstone Park

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About the Park
Tombstone Territorial Park protects over 2,000 square kilometres in the south Ogilvie Mountains. The park's boundaries were announced in December of 1999. A result of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in Final Agreement, Tombstone Park was established to protect the life, landforms and heritage of this subarctic wilderness. The Dempster Highway runs through the park, providing access to spectacular views and tundra environments like nowhere else in Canada.

What to do there
Tombstone Park is a place where people can step into the natural world and experience the awesome beauty of a northern mountain wilderness. Hikers and photographers are attracted by tundra walking with dramatic views, unusual landforms and craggy peaks. Wildlife viewers are rewarded by the diversity of species including large mammals and a unique array of birds.

Exploring Tombstone Park can involve anything from short hikes off the highway, to long backpacking and mountain climbing trips in the back country. There are almost no established trails in the park. On some well-travelled routes, sections of trail can be found, but in general, travel in the park can be a challenge to your orienteering skills

Before you set off you must be prepared for travel in an isolated and potentially hazardous environment. You are essentially on your own. Rough terrain, drastic weather changes and encounters with wildlife are potential hazards.

Use the link at the right to register your trip into Tombstone's back country. Anyone planning overnight trips into the backcountry can rent bear proof food canisters at the Interpretive Centre. References listed in the Further Information section, and the Environment Yukon publication, Into the Yukon Wilderness, will help get you off on the right foot.

How to get there
The Dempster Highway runs through Tombstone Park for about 70 kilometres from the southern boundary to Chapman Lake. The Tombstone campground and interpretive centre are located 71.4 kilometres north of where the Dempster meets the North Klondike Highway. A gravel road completed in 1979, the Dempster Highway continues on past the park. It crosses the Arctic Circle and ends in Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, 740 kilometres from the start. There are no services on the highway until Eagle Plains 369 kilometres north of the Klondike Highway, so make sure you have enough gas and spare tires.

Nearly 550 kilometres from Whitehorse and 110 kilometres from Dawson, the Tombstone campground and centre provide a base for explorations of the park.

Nature
 While Tombstone Mountain is the best-known landform in the park, it is not the most unusual. The park contains a variety of seldom-seen permafrost landforms such as pingos, palsas and patterned ground. Broad, tundra-cloaked valleys form a stunning backdrop in this area. While the scenic beauty of Tombstone is immediately obvious. The biological significance is more subtle.

Tombstone's unique collection of vegetation and wildlife is linked to the special geology and geography of the region. The diversity of rocks and minerals in the area has created a variety of soils which support a wide range of plant communities. The variety of plants, in turn, provides habitat for many animal species. The elevation and shape of the land funnels cold arctic air through the broad valleys, influencing the plants as well as the permafrost landforms.

The arctic tundra environment, which is normally found several hundred kilometres to the north, reaches its southernmost extent at the north end of the Tombstone area. Here, the vegetation and terrain is almost indistinguishable from the high arctic - a treeless, windswept area of shrub tundra and ground-hugging plants.

At the south end of Tombstone Park, dense boreal forests reach up the valleys of the Klondike and Chandindu rivers. Small, isolated stands of spruce trees are scattered throughout the rest of the area - islands of trees in a sea of tundra.

The variety of vegetation and habitats in Tombstone supports an unusual density of wildlife. Five large mammals make their home here. The Porcupine Caribou Herd winters at the north end of Tombstone while the Hart River Herd uses the region year-round. Moose are found in the major valleys and use the Blackstone Uplands in the fall. Dall sheep lambing areas and important habitats are included within the park boundaries. Grizzly bears and black bears both find suitable habitat in the area.

Tombstone is also rich in bird life, providing habitat for over 137 species. Raptors like Gyrfalcons and Golden Eagles live in the park. Both arctic tundra and boreal species nest within the park. Arctic tundra breeders reach the southern limit of their distribution in Tombstone while boreal species are at the northern limit of their range.

Chinook salmon spawn in the Chandindu and North Klondike rivers on the Yukon River side of the park while arctic char and grayling spawn on the Mackenzie River side.

Culture
For at least 8,000 years the Tr'ondek Hwech'in and other First Nation peoples inhabited the Tombstone area. The park shows a remarkable continuity of occupation with at least 78 known archaeological sites. The exceptional record of prehistoric habitation in this region is due to the availability of raw materials and the variety of subsistence resources.

The first people to reach the Tombstone area must have smiled and given thanks for the subsistence bounty they found. The land was alive with caribou, moose, sheep, salmon and char. The open tundra landscape where movement is easily visible made for good hunting, especially in places where animals had to pass through natural funnels.

Nearby forests provided shelter and firewood. At the Blackstone River, char and grayling wintering areas provided a dependable supply of fish. Chert used to make stone tools was easily available at Tombstone Mountain.

This was a place where people could live well.

Facilities
Located on the Dempster Highway 71.4 kilometres north of the Klondike Highway, the Tombstone campground provides basic facilities for the self-contained traveller. Camp sites are tucked into the trees and provided with fireplaces, tables, pit toilets, water from the river, and a picnic shelter. The campground fee includes firewood.

The Interpretive Centre is open from Late May to mid-September and provides displays, interpretive walks and talks, and information on the park.

Further Information
For information on hiking, canoeing and travelling in the Tombstone area, the following two references are indispensable -

Yukon's Tombstone Range and Blackstone Uplands: A Traveller's Guide. Published by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (2000).

Along the Dempster: An Outdoor Guide to Canada's Northernmost Highway. By Walter Lanz. Published by Oak House Publishing Third Edition (2002).

For information on the birds of the park and the Dempster Highway -

Birds by the Dempster Highway. By Bob Frisch. Revised Edition (1987). Morriss Printing Company Ltd. Victoria, BC.

For a description of a spring birding trip based in the park -
http://www.yukonweb.com/community/ybc/dempster.html

The following topographic maps cover the park area -
At 1:250,000 scale - Dawson (116B and 116C)
At 1:50,000 scale - Tombstone River (116B/7), Upper Klondike River (116B/8), North Fork Pass (116B/9), and Seela Pass (116B/10)

Contact us
Yukon Parks
Department of the Environment
Government of the Yukon
P.O. Box 2703
Whitehorse, Yukon
Y1A 2C6
Phone: (867)-667-5648