Glaciers and the Yukon River

This region was not covered by ice during the last ice age. Mammoths and other ice age animals took refuge here from the ice advancing through other parts of their range. The tusks, bones and teeth of these animals are found by miners working in the area.

Much of the land in the Dawson region remains frozen year-round. This condition, known as permafrost, has always represented a special challenge for miners who must thaw the frozen gravel in order to be able to separate the gold.

Amazingly, the mighty Yukon River once flowed in the opposite direction! About three million years ago advancing ice blocked the drainage to the south and east, and shifted the flow of the Yukon River to the northwest. The river carved a new route to the ocean through Alaska and into the Bering Sea. This is the route still followed by the river today.