Canada
Tombstone Territorial Park
Granite towers named for gravestones pierce a tundra turned crimson in the briefest Arctic autumn.
The granite towers of Tombstone Territorial Park pierce the Yukon tundra like headstones — the park's name is literal. In late August, the entire landscape turns crimson and gold for two weeks, the shortest and most vivid autumn in Canada.
Tombstone is a wilderness park on the Dempster Highway in the Yukon, covering 2,200 square kilometres of tundra, peaks, and sub-alpine valleys. The Tombstone Range's jagged granite peaks have never been fully mapped — some have never been climbed. Grizzly bears, wolverines, and caribou share the park with almost zero human visitors. The two-week autumn colour change in late August — when the tundra turns from green to crimson in days — is one of Canada's most concentrated natural spectacles. Backpacking routes lead through the range with no maintained trails and no facilities.
Solo
Tombstone is for the experienced solo backpacker who wants terrain with no trails, no facilities, and no other people — just granite towers and tundra under the brief Yukon autumn.
Friends
A group backpacking trip through Tombstone in late August — catching the crimson tundra beneath the granite towers — is a Yukon adventure that demands fitness and rewards it with extraordinary scenery.
- Granite towers shaped like headstones pierce the tundra skyline — the park's name is literal.
- The entire landscape turns crimson and gold for two weeks in late August — the shortest, most vivid autumn in Canada.
- Grizzly bears, wolverines, and caribou share the park with almost zero human visitors — you're unlikely to see another person.
- The Tombstone Range is visible from the Dempster Highway but most peaks have never been climbed.
Trail meals cooked at the Grizzly Lake campsite — the view compensates for the freeze-dried pasta.
Wild blueberries along the Goldensides trail — the Yukon's sweetest trail snack.
A hot meal at the Dempster Highway rest stop feels like civilisation after days in the backcountry.
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Churchill River
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Clearwater River
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Dempster Highway
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Canada's only road to the Arctic Ocean — 700 kilometres of gravel and caribou herds.