Beaver Creek is a community in
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, Canada. Located at kilometre 1870.6 (historical mile 1202) of the
Alaska Highway, southeast of Beaver Creek Airport
and close to the
Alcan - Beaver Creek Border Crossing, it is Canada's westernmost community. The community's main employers are a
Canada Border Services Agency port, the White River First Nation and a number of tourist lodges.
It is the home of the
White River First Nation
The White River First Nation (WRFN) is a First Nation of Upper Tanana, Northern Tutchone, and Southern Tutchone peoples in the western Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Beaver Creek, Yukon.
Language
The White River people ...
. The First Nation is made up of
Upper Tanana
Upper Tanana (also known as Tabesna, Nabesna or Nee'aanèegn') is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, mainly in the villages of Northway, Tetlin, and Tok, and adjacent areas of the Canadian ter ...
speaking people whose traditional territory extends from the Donjek River into neighbouring
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, and Athapaskan Northern Tutchone speaking people whose traditional territories included the lower
Stewart River and the area south of the
Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
on the White and Donjek River drainages.
In addition to the Alaska Highway, the community is served by the
Beaver Creek Airport.
The CBSA station is the furthest from the border crossing of any Canadian customs station at a distance of , and at least up to the 1990s, some individuals lived in the "no man's land" in between the border and customs. Prior to 1983, the customs station was located in the middle of the community, with the resulting confusion: individuals driving past without stopping, and locals with a new vehicle not being recognized as they drove by.
Climate
Like most of Yukon, Beaver Creek has a
subarctic climate (
Dfc), and
NRC Plant Hardiness Zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
of 0a.
It is situated at an elevation of approximately .
Beaver Creek experiences annual temperature average daily highs of in July and average daily lows of in January.
Record high temperature was on June 15, 1969 and the lowest was on January 17, 1971.
Beaver Creek has an average annual snowfall of and of rainfall.
The airstrip at
Snag, east of Beaver Creek, experienced the lowest ever temperature measured in North America (excluding Greenland), on February 3, 1947.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, Beaver Creek had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
References
External links
Community ProfileWhite River First Nation
{{Subdivisions of Yukon
Northern Tutchone
Settlements in Yukon