Mount Lorne

Distance: 19 km
Elevation Gain: 1200 m (3937 ft)
Time: 7 hours
Difficulty: Difficult 		Date Added: June 29, 2008
Last Update: August 23, 2008



When you drive south of Whitehorse, you can't miss this formidable mountain looming in the distance. Mount Lorne offers views of Whitehorse, Grey Mountain, Marsh Lake, Bennett Lake, McConnell Lake, Cowley Lakes, and snowy peaks across the Klondike highway.

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Driving Directions

From Whitehorse, drive south to the Carcross Cutoff and turn right onto the Klondike Highway. Drive south for about 18 km. Bear Creek is 2 km past the Annie Lake Road turnoff. There is a parking spot immediately after Bear Creek on the left side of the highway.

Trail Description

The trailhead is on the other side of Bear Creek from where you parked (the north side). The trail starts by following Bear Creek for 50 m and then tucks into the trees. Very soon there is a 'T' juntion in the path - turn right, as left leads to a house.

The trail will follow beside Bear Creek for about 1 km and then it turns off into the trees. The path wanders through dark spruce trees, and is lined with soft yellow-green moss and wildflowers. After 5.5 km from the trailhead, you will reach an old trapper's cabin. Up until here, the trail has a relatively moderate elevation gain and is wide and easy to follow.

Once a the cabin, stop for a view of the valley below. Then, leave the wide main trail and look for a narrow path behind the cabin in the trees which climbs steeply upwards. You will soon leave the trees and be surrounded with waist high birch and willow shrubs. The path is hard to follow at times, but will eventually make its way to the top of the ridge.

The top of the treeless ridge is a nice viewpoint. Follow this ridge right up to the first summit which is identifiable by its black, rocky surface. The first summit is steep and requires some scrambling. The easiest route to the top is around the left side of the peak.

Soak in the views of Whitehorse and Grey Mountain to the north. Marsh Lake is to the east. To the west is McConnell Lake and many snowy peaks. To the south is Lake Bennett and the other peaks of Mount Lorne.

Follow the same route back to the trailhead. For more views and a fun ridge walk, you can continue over the other peaks of Mount Lorne all the way to the other side and do a loop. This ridge-walk route continues up and all the way along the rocky ridge and then descends onto an ATV trail and will eventually loop back onto the main trail. Expect a total of 8 hours to do this loop.

Have these directions changed? We invite you to let us know.


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Lolo
May 22, 2013 09:53 AM
Awesome hike for the long weekend, it was still a bit of snow but, it was a beautiful day, no bears, it took us like 6 hours we took our time. I love the trail that lead to the cabin before the climb.
Yukon Hiking
February 5, 2012 06:19 PM
The trail was packed down recently by a snowmobile which made walking easy. We had snowshoes on, but didn't need them for most of the way.

A sharp left from the cabin, there was a trail already packed down most of the way to the base of the ridge. Up in the alpine, the area was very windswept and posed no avalanche risk (only a few inches of snow on parts of the ridge). We only made it up to the base of the ridge, but you could continue without any problems along the ridge.

We saw caribou and lynx tracks in the forest.