The Klondike Trail or Chalmers Trail was an overland route to the Klondike Gold Rush in the

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. Prospectors were reaching the Klondike via the American route over the

Chilkoot Pass Chilkoot Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett La ...

, and the northern route via

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is pro ...

. Edmonton's merchants, however, promoted an overland route, which appeared shorter on the map, but proved to be arduous, treacherous, and took much longer to travel. In attempt to improve the most deadly part of the trail between

Fort Assiniboine Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County. It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately northwest of Barrhead, southea ...

and

Lesser Slave Lake Lesser Slave Lake (french: Petit lac des Esclaves)—known traditionally as "Beaver Lake" (ᐊᒥᐢᐠ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amisk sâkâhikan in the Plains Cree language, and T’saat’ine migeh in Dene Zhatıé) or "Beaver people were over the ...

, the North-West Territorial government in Regina sent territorial road engineer Thomas W. Chalmers to survey and cut a new trail. Attempting to bypass

muskeg Muskeg (Ojibwe: mashkiig; cr, maskīk; french: fondrière de mousse, lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or ...

and without consulting the local Indigenous people, who may have helped him find a better route, Chalmers set out in September 1897. He surveyed a route which traversed the highest point in the Swan Hills, about 20 kilometres east of the present day town of

Swan Hills Swan Hills is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is in the eponymous Swan Hills, approximately north of Whitecourt and northwest of Fort Assiniboine. The town is at the junction of Highway 32 and Grizzly Trail, and is surrounded by Big Lak ...

, nearly paralleling present-day

Alberta Highway 33 Alberta Provincial Highway No. 33, commonly referred to as Highway 33 and officially named Grizzly Trail, is a north–south highway in west–central Alberta, Canada. Highway 33 begins at Highway 43 near the hamlet of Gunn ...

. He returned to Edmonton on November 7. In the spring and summer of 1898 he and a road-cutting party cut of what was expected to be a wagon trail out of the heavy bush. The trail started at Pruden's Crossing on the

near

then headed north to the shore of

near what would become

Kinuso Kinuso ( cr, script=Cans, ᑭᓄᓭᐤ, ) is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within Big Lakes County, and surrounded by the Swan River First Nation reserve. It is located approximately west of Slave Lake and 71 km east of High Prairie ...

. From there it was still another 2,500 kilometres north to the gold fields. Chalmers declared the trail passable in July. It was a very difficult trail, taking some travellers months to cover. Travellers endured great danger and back-breaking labour. An estimated 2,000 horses died due to lack of feed, poor packing techniques and exhaustion. One human death is recorded: that of an unidentified little girl, whose grave is still marked along the trail east of Fort Assiniboine. The gold rush declined the same year, however, and the last Yukon party to use the trail left Edmonton in August 1898. Use of the trail declined by 1901–02. The trail is mostly grown over now, although in parts near Fort Assiniboine, wagon ruts are still visible.

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