The Skagway–Fraser Border Crossing connects the communities of

Skagway, Alaska The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with the large ...

and

Carcross, Yukon Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, () is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. It is south-southeast by the Alaska Highway and the Klondike High ...

on the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

. Alaska Highway 98 on the American side joins Yukon Highway 2 on the Canadian side. The border is near the summit of

White Pass White Pass, also known as the Dead Horse Trail (elevation ), is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada. It leads from Skagway, Ala ...

on the

Klondike Highway The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon. Its route somewhat ...

, where the elevation is . The border divides

Alaska Time Zone The Alaska Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting nine hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−09:00). During daylight saving time its time offset is eight hours ( UTC−08:00). The clock time in this zone is based on mean sola ...

from

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

. The highway, completed in 1979, was initially seasonal, but has been open year-round since 1986.

Canadian side

For a few months in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, while discussions continued on the

Alaska boundary dispute The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which then controlled Canada's foreign relations. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903. The dispute had existe ...

, a

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

(NWMP) detachment and a customs office (collecting duty on goods destined for the Yukon) operated at Skagway. Subsequently, other border stations existed on the BC side. Bennett operated 1899–1901. Log Cabin, about northeast of

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

, existed 1901–1905. The White Pass customs office, which opened in 1898, was upgraded to an outport in 1907. The

White Pass and Yukon Route The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&Y, WP&YR) is a Canadian and U.S. Class III narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other rail ...

, completed in 1900, included train stations at White Pass, Fraser and Bennett. When the White Pass train station, which housed the customs office, burned to the ground in 1950, customs moved to temporary accommodation before closing the following year. This section of the line closed in 1982, unable to compete with the highway but reopened to Fraser in 1988. The line reopened to Bennett in 1992 and

Carcross Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, () is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. It is south-southeast by the Alaska Highway and the Klondike High ...

in 1997. The

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada. ...

(CBSA) facility, which operates at Fraser, northeast of the border (), primarily handles highway traffic, but also processes train passengers.

US side

To address a US Customs refusal to allow Canadian vessels to discharge freight and passengers at Skagway, the two governments held discussions. From 1897, US Customs allowed freight to be transported under bond before entering BC. The US Border Inspection Station lies south of the border at . The farthest offset from the border of any US land border station, this is the busiest Canada–Alaska crossing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skagway-Fraser Border Crossing Canada–United States border crossings 1979 establishments in Alaska 1979 establishments in British Columbia Buildings and structures in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska

Canadian side

US side

See also

References