Yukon Explorer: Paddle Expedition

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Where young explorers become confident outdoor leaders

Are you ready to share in an adventure that is larger than life? With epic canoe expeditions, wilderness skills training, and outdoor leadership challenges, Yukon Explorer is the gateway to the wild world of outdoor expeditions. It’s a world that shapes our character and challenges us to become more grounded by unplugging and learning to enjoy the simple things in life. 

A place of unparalleled beauty, the Yukon welcomes youth from all walks of life to share in its grand rivers, endless wilderness, incredible people, and timeless stories. With Fireside Adventures, everyone has their own place in this unique outdoor leadership journey in Canada’s True North.

10-day Teslin to Carmacks:
A short and sweet welcome to the Yukon canoe expedition experience. We’ll start on the slow, easy Teslin River before joining the mighty Yukon with a few days of paddling under our belts. This is a great trip for youth who are new to the world of canoeing and would like a more gentle entry.
Unique highlight: This route takes us through Hootalinqua, a place of incredible history. Before contact, this was a central meeting place for the Tlingit, Southern Tutchone and Northern Tutchone nations where they would trade, trap and fish together. During the Gold Rush, it became an important shipping hub, a history made tangible by a shipwrecked barge that still sits on an island next to the ruins of an old trading post.

10-day (Carmacks to Dawson City):
This 10-day trip takes youth past the famous confluence of the Yukon and Teslin Rivers all the way to the iconic, wild west town of Dawson City. Along the way, we will also visit Fort Selkirk, a home away from home for Fireside. This is another great beginner trip, and the pace of the Yukon allows groups to cover even more distance than on the Teslin.
Unique highlight: Step into history by visiting Fort Selkirk, also called Hucha Hudan. This area has been continuously inhabited by the Selkirk Nation for 10,000 years - even through a volcanic eruption that occurred 7000 years ago!

18-day (Whitehorse/Teslin to Dawson City):
This is Fireside’s “classic” adventure, one that we’ve been sharing with youth for over 15 years! This expedition follows the wake of the miners, prospectors, and trappers of the Klondike Gold Rush as they travelled between the two hubs of Whitehorse and Dawson City. This is a full-on river expedition immersion, where youth will discover the river in a way that leaves them with a sense of fulfillment and achievement. Although longer, this trip is completely doable for beginners who are looking to leap into adventure headfirst!
Unique Highlight: See all that the Teslin and Yukon Rivers have to offer, exploring the impacts of climate change on the Yukon’s fragile ecosystem from Indigenous, historical, geographical, and environmental perspectives.

Nsultin River Trilogy (10-day to Teslin, 18-day to Carmacks, 26-day to Dawson City)
This is a new expedition for Fireside Adventures, running from the well-travelled and wild Nsultin River, through Teslin Lake, and ending in Teslin, Carmacks, or Dawson City. We will follow the ancient spawning path of the King salmon, who travel from the ocean up the Yukon and Teslin Rivers to spawning grounds above Teslin Lake. Youth who join any of these three adventures will have the opportunity to be the first Fireside youth to ever take this route, gaining experience with both still-water and moving water canoeing, identifying the ideal route and camping spots for future generations, and learning about this ancient and important region.
Unique Highlight: Go boldly where no Fireside Adventures campers have ever gone before! In particular, the 26-day epic journey will be the longest Yukon expedition we have ever run, encountering three different rivers and one lake, and is the ultimate expedition experience that we offer. This is a transformative experience with maximum wilderness immersion. Don’t be surprised if campers return home with an entirely new life outlook, thinking much more critically about the role of technology in their lives, and maybe even a prospector’s beard!
** These trips are considered advanced, and ideal candidates are Fireside alumni and/or youth with canoe experience. Registration is based on request so please contact us if interested at office@firesideadventures.ca

Packing List

AGES
13–18 (co-ed)

DATES: King Salmon Quest (26-day)
Jun 27–Jul 22, 2026

DATES: Yukon Explorer (18-day)
Jun 27–Jul 14, 2026 (Advanced)
Jul 05–22, 2026
Jul 25–Aug 11, 2026

DATES: Yukon Explorer (10-day)
Jun 27–Jul 06, 2026 (Advanced)
Jul 5–14, 2026
Jul 25–Aug 3, 2026
Jul 13–22, 2026
Aug 2–11, 2026

LOCATIONS
Whitehorse, Yukon River, Carmacks, Dawson City, Nsultin River, Teslin Lake

EARLY BIRD PRICES * (Expires Dec 01)
26-day: $5,299 + GST (CAD)
18-day: $3,899 + GST (CAD)
10-day (Jun 27, Jul 05, Jul 25): $2,599 + GST (CAD)
10-day (Jul 13, Aug 02): $2,799 + GST (CAD)

STANDARD PRICES * (Expires Dec 01)
26-day: $5,599 + GST (CAD)
18-day: $4,199 + GST (CAD)
10-day (Jun 27, Jul 05, Jul 25): $2,799 + GST (CAD)
10-day (Jul 13, Aug 02): $2,999 + GST (CAD)

*Includes non-refundable $200 deposit (all trips).

Includes: Return flight (Vancouver–Whitehorse), all ground transportation, meals, canoes, paddles, PFDs, group camping gear (incl. tents), pre-trip check-in

More info: office@firesideadventures.ca

What’s so special about Yukon Explorer?

• Explore the ruins of the Gold Rush: travel back through time and explore the ruins of dozens of mining camps, settlements, and shipwrecks from the legendary Klondike Gold Rush.

• Learn from Indigenous culture: Understand what it means to be in a place where Indigenous culture and governance are thriving. Did you know that 11 of 14 First Nations in the Yukon are self-governing?

• Where navigation gets real: Use a beautiful hand-drawn map that details everything from log jams to old forest fire burns. There’s no better way to learn how to read a map and landscape.

• Choose your own adventure: we have the freedom to camp virtually anywhere along the river. Feel the satisfaction of choosing a great spot to pitch camp and cook over the campfire with your new friends

• Yep - we’re doing a solo experience! Supervised by your guides, you will share an iconic Fireside experience. Find challenge and reconnection during 12 hours of monitored solitude - your only company the sound of the wind in the trees and the river in the reeds.

• Encounter truly wild wildlife: Watch wide-eyed as your canoe silently glides past an enormous moose, or perhaps lock eyes with a solitary eagle on the hunt. In the Yukon, there are more moose than people. A lot more!

Some of last year’s adventurers setting off on their journey!

True leaders are born in the Canadian wilderness with Fireside Adventures

• Outdoor Leadership “Soft Skills” Training: Guided by our Fireside Pillars (Independence, Community, Knowledge, Experience, and Vision), define what leadership means to you and hold yourself accountable. When you’re ready, your instructors and peers will vote for you to receive the traditional Fireside Adventures leadership bracelet.

• Expedition “Hard Skills”: Challenge yourself with a canoe expedition style of adventuring, including canoe manoeuvres, risk management, and wildlife safety. These experiences develop universal life skills like perseverance and problem-solving, not to mention a love for nature. When you learn ‘em in the great Canadian North, you won’t forget!

• Character-building & Resilience: Spending time in nature brings challenges but also opportunities for peace, reflection, and connection. This is the unbroken space and time you need to foster relationships, trust, and personal transformation through a mix of one-on-one mentorship, daily video/audio journaling, and group dialogues.

• Increase self-knowledge: During your time in the wilderness, clarify your personal values, strengthen your decision-making skills, and learn how to set and achieve short-term and long-term goals.

• Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: Earn your Bronze, Silver, or Gold with us. Here’s how.

Becoming one with the Yukon River to cool off!

A Fireside instructor teaching the learners how to rescue a canoe.

Barnsy, Yukon Explorer 2022

“One night at Carmacks, I was showing a few campers how to take long-exposure night photos - it was late August so the sky was dark. Then one of the campers started yelling for me to come quickly. I ran over - not sure what was the matter - and to my surprise, he had captured a photo of the Aurora. We couldn’t see it with the naked eye - but the camera could capture it on 1/30th exposure. Then, before our eyes, the Aurora started shining brightly and dancing above us. That photo is framed on my wall - and theirs.”

Dani Mikolela, Yukon Explorer 2021

“Yukon Explorer was my first experience with Fireside as a camper. I completed my solo experience while challenging myself to fast and build my own shelter. Since then I’ve become a Junior staff… Fireside has helped me with my social skills and my connection with nature. As an instructor, I have helped Barnsy develop his parkour program over the past two years.”

This is a video that Barnsy took while on expedition on the Yukon River in 2021!