Watson Lake is a town in

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

border. It had a population of 1,133 in 2021. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in the area at the end of the 19th century. Watson Lake is near the

Liard River The Liard River of the Boreal forest of Canada, North American boreal forest flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows sout ...

, at the junction of the Robert Campbell Highway and the Alaska Highway. The Stewart–Cassiar Highway's northern end is west of Watson Lake. The town is also served by the Watson Lake Airport; the airport was formerly served by

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, ...

and other local and regional airlines, but now by Air North and corporate and charter services. Watson Lake is the main centre of the small forestry industry in Yukon and has been a service centre for the mining industry, especially for the Cassiar, a now abandoned

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

mine in northern British Columbia and the

Cantung Mine Cantung Mine is a tungsten producer in the Nahanni area of the Northwest Territories, Canada, located northeast of Watson Lake in the Flat River Valley of the Selwyn Range close to the Yukon border. Tungsten was originally discovered in the ar ...

, a

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

mine on the Yukon-

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

border in the Mackenzie Mountains. Tourist attractions in Watson Lake include the Northern Lights Centre and the much-imitated original Sign Post Forest. The Sign Post Forest was started in 1942 by a homesick

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

G.I. working on the Alaska Highway, who put up a sign with the name of his home town and the distance. Others followed suit and the tradition continues to this day. As of August 2010 there are more than 76,000 signs of various types depicting locations across the world. The Sign Post Forest is one of four roadside attractions featured on the first series of the Canadian Roadside Attractions Series issued by

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

on July 6, 2009.Canada Post ''Details'', Canada Post, July to September 2009, Volume XVIII, No. 3, p. 10 Watson Lake and the neighbouring Upper Liard settlement are the home of the Liard River First Nation, a member of the Kaska Dena Council. The Two Mile area immediately north of the core of town is a concentrated area of

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

residents, while the town extends out to the turn-off of Airport Road. (Originally, Airport Road extended directly to the Alaska Highway, but most of it is now part of the Campbell highway.)

History

The Town of Watson Lake annexed Two Mile and Two and One-Half Mile Village on January 2, 2016.

Geography

Climate

Like most of Yukon, Watson Lake has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

( Dfc) with mild to warm summers and severely cold, snowy winters. Watson Lake experiences annual temperature average daily highs of in July and average daily lows of in January. Record high temperature was in July 2009 and the lowest was in January 1947. Watson Lake has more precipitation than other parts of Yukon with an average annual snowfall of and of rainfall, resulting in larger trees and a more viable forest industry.

Demographics

In the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Watson Lake had a population of 1,133 living in 499 of its 564 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,083. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

History

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links