HAINES JUNCTION VISITOR RECEPTION CENTRE

National Park and Yukon Territory Information

Not to be missed, this centre features exhibits on the natural and cultural history of Kluane National Park and Reserve including a topographic relief map of the Kluane area.

Park staff are available for information on hiking, backcountry registrations and other activities. The centre is open daily, mid-May to mid-September, and Monday to Friday the rest of the year. For more information on Kluane National Park and Reserve, with a direct link to the park website.

There is a convenient and pleasant picnicking area in front of the centre with a good view of the mountains.

From mid-May to the end of September, the centre is also staffed by Tourism Yukon who can provide extensive information on the whole of the Yukon.

From May to November, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park (to the south in British Columbia) operates a Field Office at the centre. This wilderness provincial park is jointly managed by BC Parks and the Champagne and Aishikik First Nations. Interested persons can make an appointment to meet with the Park Ranger by calling (867) 634-7043. The main district office for BC Parks is in Smithers BC, (250) 847-7320. BC Parks website: www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks

ST. ELIAS CONVENTION CENTRE

The St. Elias Convention Centre is home to a local history exhibit, The Cultural Landscape of Kluane. The exhibit depicts significant events of the Kluane region since 1890, through a series of interpretive panels and photographs.

A growing collection of art work is also on display in the building. Just through the main doors is the Millennium Quilt, designed by local artist Libby Dulac and machine stitched by the Threadbearers Quilting Group. Also in the foyer area, the stage backdrops for the Alsek Music Festival and the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival are displayed. Music Under the Mountains, by Sally Wright, uses the ancient Japanese Bokashi method of wax and dye. Bluegrass is machine-appliqued and machine-quilted by local resident Brigitte Geske. As part of the Haines Junction Public Art Collection, Kluane’s Mount Logan is an acrylic painting on canvas by Yukon artist Nathalie Parenteau. Celebrating Canada’s highest peak, the piece is a triptych measuring 4 feet high by 10 feet wide.

In the atrium is the St. Elias Community School Millennium Mural. The mural is composed of 224 ceramic tiles, each handmade, painted and glazed by the students of the St. Elias Community School. Complimenting this mural and also part of the Haines Junction Public Art Collection is Yukon Animal Tracks.This is a series of 16 sets of ceramic wall panels depicting actual animal tracks which are cast in plaster, pressed into clay, glazed and fired. There are three panels for each animal depicted – mounted vertically they create the impression of a trail running up the wall.

The building also houses the municipal offices upstairs and is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. The office has information on a range of community facilities and services. For collectors, or as an excellent souvenir, municipal pins are also available for sale here.

VILLAGE MONUMENT

You have arrived in Haines Junction when you reach the Village Monument, a sculpture depicting a mountain setting with local wildlife that sits on the edge of the Alaska Highway. Picnic tables just behind the monument make for a convenient spot to pull off the road, take a picture and start exploring the community.

ST. CHRISTOPHER'S ANGLICAN CHURCH

St. Christopher’s is an eight sided log church that was built over a period of years in the 1980s. It was designed and built by Henry Henkel, a local craftsman who also fashioned, with a chainsaw, the unique wooden trail markers in Kluane National Park. Located on the Alaska Highway (left hand side for northbound traffic).

OUR LADY OF THE WAY CATHOLIC CHURCH

If you were to have visited Haines Junction in 1942 you would have walked into a U.S. Army construction camp and supply centre for the building of the Alaska Highway. This unique church was built in 1954 with parts of an army Quonset hut that were left over from that time. Located on the Alaska Highway (right hand side for northbound traffic); well worth a visit.