A Day at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve: Up Close with Northern Wildlife

The Yukon Wildlife Preserve is home to more than 150 animals across 350 acres, and it's open every day of the year. You walk or ride the loop, or take a guided bus tour, since personal vehicles aren't allowed on-site. It's a good way to see northern animals up close, in large natural enclosures, any time of year.

What you'll see

The Preserve is home to wood bison, muskox, moose, woodland caribou, mountain goats, thinhorn sheep, mule deer, elk, Canada lynx, arctic foxes, red foxes, and arctic ground squirrels. Each lives in a large, naturalistic enclosure, so you're watching animals in their own space rather than looking at them through bars.

A local joke says the mule deer aren't really residents and hop the fence to come and go as they please, and that the ear marks are there to tell the regulars from the visitors. Ask your bus tour guide about it.

How to visit

Personal vehicles aren't allowed on-site, so you explore the roughly 5 km loop on foot or take the guided bus tour. The tour runs about 1.5 hours with an interpreter and regular stops. Booking ahead is recommended, and a wheelchair-accessible bus is available if you call first.

In winter you can also get around on skis, snowshoes, a fat bike, or a kicksled, and kicksleds and fat bikes can be rented on site. You can also just walk. The road is plowed all winter

Nearby stops

If you're making a day of it, Bean North Coffee is a short, walkable distance from the preserve and open year-round, seven days a week. It's a genuinely good stop for a coffee and a pastry before or after your visit.

Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs is also nearby. It's an adults-only (19+) soak for now, though they've talked about adding family-friendly pools down the road. In winter, the walk between the preserve, Bean North, and the hot springs is short but cold enough that you'll want to dress for it. Eclipse also has on-site accommodation, and there are a handful of other cabins scattered along Takhini Hot Springs Road and Takhini River Road if you'd rather stay the night than head back into town.

Best times to go

The preserve is open year-round, and every season offers something different. Spring brings newborn animals. Summer means long daylight and green habitats. Winter shows off thick coats and animals built for the cold.

Fall is a particular favourite among locals. The elk go into rut, and their bugling calls carry through the Takhini Valley, an eerie, memorable sound if you catch it. Mornings and evenings tend to be the most active viewing times regardless of season.

Why it matters

Beyond the viewing, the preserve does real conservation and rehabilitation work, caring for injured and orphaned animals and educating visitors about northern ecology. A visit supports that mission while giving you the knowledge to spot the same species later in the wild.

Many travellers visit early in their trip to learn what they're looking for, then head into the backcountry with a sharper eye. It's the kind of stop that pairs naturally with a longer day in Whitehorse. See our [24 Hours in Whitehorse](https://www.goyukonic.net/blog/24-hours-in-whitehorse/) itinerary, which sends readers here as an afternoon stop.