The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is divided into two units, the Seattle and Skagway units.

The Seattle unit commemorates the important role that Seattle played as the staging area for the 1890s gold rush. It was from here that news of the gold strike in Canada's Yukon Territory spread across the country, and from here most prospector's left for the gold fields. Today the park has a visitor center in the Pioneer Square Historic District, the center of Gold Rush activity. This story of the Gold Rush is depicted in exhibits and audio-visual presentations.

The Skagway unit tells the story of thousands of gold hungry stampeders brought to Skagway and Dyea, Alaska by news of the gold strike. The White Pass Trail from Skagway, and the Chilkoot Trail from Dyea were the most popular overland routes to the gold fields. Today the park has a visitor center in Skagway, and administers the Chilkoot Trail and White Pass Trail units.

Seattle Unit

"At 3 o'clock this morning the steamship Portland, from St. Michaels for Seattle, passed up [Puget] Sound with more than a ton of gold on board and 68 passengers."

When this magic sentence appeared on the July 17, 1897 issue of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, it triggered one of the last—and one of the greatest—gold rushes in the history of North America. Before noon that day every berth aboard the Portland had been sold for the return trip north and telegraph wires carried details of the 68 miners who wrestled suitcases, gunny sacks, pokes, and boxes of gold down the gangplank at the Seattle wharf. When it was actually weighed, the gold amounted to more than two tons, but by then it didn't really matter; the stampede to the Klondike in northwestern Canada was underway, and the effects on Seattle would prove nothing short of astonishing.

The Klondike Gold Rush was already 11 months old when the Portland arrived at Seattle. Prospectors had been dribbling into that vast wilderness of the Yukon River drainage for decades, finding just enough "colors" on feeder streams to buy grub and tools. But the big strike eluded them until August 17, 1896, when a trio—two Indians and a white man—stopped to rest beside a tiny stream called Rabbit Creek, which emptied into the Klondike River. There on the creek bottom they saw glistening flecks of gold, "caught between rocks like cheese in a sandwich."

Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie, and George Washington Carmack filled a cartridge casing with coarse gold dust. Then, leaving Skookum Jim behind to guard the discovery site, Carmack and Tagish Charlie hurried back down the Yukon River to the settlement at Fortymile where Carmack filed claims. When other miners saw Carmack's gold, they threw their belongings into boats and headed upriver to make claims near the discovery. Immediately the town of Dawson was started at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers. By the end of 1896 all good river-bottom claims had been staked and the prospectors spent the winter and spring digging out their fortunes. When the ice left the rivers, they rode a paddlewheeler to St. Michael, then piled their gold and belongings onto coastal steamers and headed home. It was 68 of these men who, in the summer of 1897, steamed into Seattle with confirmation of the Klondike's fabulous riches.

The news came at an opportune time, for Seattle, like the rest of the Nation was still locked in the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1893. Many people were out of work and finding it difficult to feed themselves. But when that magic sentence about "more than a ton of gold" from the Klondike went out over the telegraph wires from Seattle, conditions changed dramatically. business doubled, then tripled, as thousands of gold-seekers poured into the city from all over the United States and all parts of the world to outfit themselves for their great Alaskan and Yukon adventure. Seattle's mayor resigned to organize one of the many ill-fated Klondike mining expeditions. Farmers, bank clerks, teachers, doctors, firemen, policemen, ministers, con-men, missionaries, and prostitutes packed up and headed north. Most had no idea where the Klondike was; few really cared. And fewer still realized the incredible hardships they were about to face.

Visiting the Seattle Unit

Visting hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The visitor center is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Parking is available at several nearby locations. Bus stops are also close by, and the train station and local ferries are within walking distance.

Climate: Seattle has a marine-type climate. Winters are cool, and summers are mild and pleasant. The average temperature is 53 degrees with a low average of 36 degrees in the winter and a high average of 69 degrees in the summer. The average rain fall is 39 inches. Seattle has 100 rain free days per year with an average of 49 percent of sunshine of the daylight hours. Rain coats, umbrellas and sweaters can be appreciated at any time of the year.

Skagway Unit

The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Curatorial center is located in Skagway and is one of the largest repositories of Klondike Gold Rush material with over 250,000 items in storage. The collection consists of material from over 50 excavations in the historic district, the nearby historic town of Dyea, and the Chilkoot and White Pass Trails. The historic district excavations were from beneath and around buildings prior to restoration. The various buildings excavated were two saloons, a liquor store, railroad depot, bakery, cigar and confectionery store, dry goods store, tailor and furrier shop, paint and wallpaper store, transportation company, catholic church rectory, mission house, the home of the founder of Skagway, and a residential block outside the historic district. Many of these collections have been analyzed and reports are in progress or have been completed.

The Park collection also consists of over 1,000 mounted herbarium specimens which are a valuable research tool to aid in the understanding of this unique Pacific Coastal Rain Forest/Alpine Tundra ecosystem.

Visiting the Skagway Unit

Climate: - Summers are generally cool and dry. It is often windy in Skagway. Jackets are recommended. Skagway is rainy in September.

Getting to the Park: Access to Skagway is by small airplane, Alaska Marine Highway ferry vessels, cruise ships, train/bus (summer only), and vehicle on the Klondike Highway. Once at the park, local tour and taxi operators offer transportation within the Skagway Historic District and to the Chilkoot trailhead in Dyea; bicycle; rental and personal vehicle.