The dunes
Golden sand.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jakub Fryš — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Hunkeler from Carlsbad, California, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Chris Hunkeler from Carlsbad, California, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Carcross Desert is a series of sand dunes near the village of Carcross in southern Yukon, Canada, about 63 km south of Whitehorse in a straight line. It covers about 2.6 square kilometres. It is called a desert but is really a field of northern sand dunes, as the climate is too humid for a true desert. The sand was laid down in the last ice age, when large glacial lakes deposited silt and then dried out, leaving the dunes behind. Today the wind carries sand in from nearby Bennett Lake. The area is much drier than its surroundings, with less than 50 cm of rain a year, so rare plants grow here, including a sedge known from only four other sites in North America. Soft golden dunes spread between scattered pines and spruce, with green mountains and snowy peaks above. Grasses and Yukon lupins grow on the sand. Visitors drive in on the South Klondike Highway and wander the dunes freely. Locals use the slopes for sandboarding. It combines easily with Emerald Lake and Carcross village on the same trip.
Golden sand.
Beyond the sand.
On the slopes.
Near Carcross, Yukon, Canada
No, northern dunes in a humid climate.
Emerald Lake and Carcross village.