From Dawson to Moose Creek Campground and Moose Creek Lodge
On Day 8 of this RV trip – Tuesday, July 31st – I left the Dawson airport at about 4:20 pm after dropping Cathy off so she could fly home. I was heading back to the Robert Campbell Highway for some more exploring, and the first stop on the way would be at Moose Creek Campground that evening.
Southbound on the North Klondike Highway, along the Klondike River.
Thirty minutes south of the airport, I came to the first section of construction. Automation is even replacing flagpeople. This was a short delay.
Another section of construction an hour south of the airport resulted in a much longer delay – about 15 minutes.
I was hoping to have dinner at Moose Creek Lodge, but I got there at 6:00 and they were closed – breakfast and lunch are the meals they focus on. So, I drove a few hundred meters back to Moose Creek Campground.
I was soon set up in site #15, a spacious, fairly level pull-through. Of the 36 campsites at Moose Creek, 4 are pull-throughs. We had hit about a dozen kilometers of freshly-laid calcium chloride on the Dempster Highway (for dust control), and the RV and Tracker were both thickly coated in the stuff. Once we reached the airport, I threw a few buckets of water on the back of the motorhome to clear my camera so I could see the Tracker again.
At site #15, the picnic table and firepit are below the parking area, while at most they’re on the same level.
Moose Creek Campground is very nice but gets little use. There were about 10 sites occupied that night.
Bella and Tucker and I went for a couple of long walks around the campground the evening we arrived, then the next morning, hiked for about 3 kilometers on a network of interpretive trails that go along Moose Creek as far as the Stewart River, and along a ridge above the creek.
The set of stairs in the next photo takes hikers from the campground level down to Moose Creek, where the Moose Creek Loop trail leads around and back up onto the ridge and campground level.
Moose Creek wasn’t suitable for the dogs to play in.
“Ponds and pools of water collect on the surface in this area because of underlying permafrost. This provides excellent habitat for mosquitoes.” The mosquitoes were quite bad, but not terrible – certainly not bad enough to reduce our enjoyment of the hike.
The interpretive panel seen in the next photo describes some of the bird sounds you may hear along the trail.
Once back up on the campground level, the “Upper Ridge” trail runs along the top of a steep slope for a few hundred meters.
After the hike, I got the fur-kids breakfast, and then got the rig set up for the short drive back to Moose Creek Lodge where I wanted to have breakfast.
Moose Creek Lodge has been a regular stop for me since I arrived in the Yukon – both with my tour buses and when I was travelling independently. The owner, Maja Nafzger, has been my friend for many years, and having a brief visit with her is part of the reason I stop.
This morning, a hearty breakfast was the proper way to start off what promised to be a busy day.
The next photo shows the view to the north on the North Klondike Highway, from the lodge, as I was about to head south at 10:00.
A few minutes later, I’d unhook the Tracker and head in to remote Ethel Lake Campground.
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