The White Pass & Yukon Route is a narrow-gauge railway connecting Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, built through the Coast Mountains during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. Carcross sits roughly in the middle of the historic route, and the beautifully preserved wooden station — built in 1910 — is one of the more evocative buildings in the Yukon.
The railway is now primarily a scenic tourist excursion operating from Skagway. Day trips from Skagway reach Carcross, and travellers can combine a one-way train journey with a bus return to create a loop through the southern Yukon. The line climbs nearly 900 metres through dramatic mountain scenery, past the site of the Dead Horse Gulch (where thousands of pack animals died during the Gold Rush) and along ledges blasted from sheer cliff faces. Even for non-railway enthusiasts, the scenery makes it worthwhile.