Yukon Golden Circle via Haines and Skagway - CanaDream

Thirteen nights and 606 kilometres in a loop from Whitehorse in a motorhome, which works out at under fifty kilometres a day.

Haines Junction comes first, beside Kluane National Park, which holds the largest non-polar icefield in the world, the highest mountain in Canada and a grizzly population to match, with flightseeing over the icefield the way most visitors see it.

Haines follows over the Chilkat Pass and down to the Pacific, where the coastal rainforest begins and the largest gathering of bald eagles anywhere arrives each autumn for the late salmon run. The ferry crosses to Skagway, a gold rush port preserved as a national historical park, then the South Klondike Highway climbs back over the White Pass to Carcross, where the Carcross Desert, a patch of glacial sand a square kilometre or so in size, is called the smallest desert in the world.

The motorhome and the day-by-day plan come from CanaDream, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with insurance options priced at booking. Fourteen days for 606 kilometres makes this the most stationary itinerary in the range by a wide margin, with a stay day at every stop. The ferry between Haines and Skagway takes motorhomes and needs booking. The season is short, roughly June to early September, and the eagle gathering at Haines is a late autumn event rather than a summer one. Crossing into Alaska needs cross-border cover confirmed at booking. For a first trip this far north, the slow pace is the right call.