This post will share our photos and review of the White Pass Railway Train Excursion in Skagway, Alaska!
About the White Pass Railway
Technically, it is called the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, but we’re gonna shorten it a bit for this post. I’ve also seen it referred to as the “Skagway Train Ride” No matter what you call it, it is an amazing Skagway excursion idea. The railway was a product of the Klondike Gold Rush. Men were taking the treacherous journey on foot and the railway provided a safer and faster journey. Construction started in 1898 and it began operations in 1900. It closed in 1982, but then reopened as a tourist attraction in 1988. You can read more history on their website.
White Pass Summit Excursion
The company actually offers several tour options. They offer longer one way trips and shorter round-trips. What to choose depends on a few factors, such as time availability and transportation options.
The one we chose was the White Pass Summit Excursion, which is a 40 mile roundtrip to White Pass Summit, just on the Alaska/Canada border. The tour is approximately 2.5-2.75 hours. There were a couple of time slots available given the length of stay in port, so you would have time to explore the town or do other things in addition to this excursion.
Skagway Landslides
Our Alaskan Cruise was in June 2023. Skagway had been experiencing landslides and falling rocks by the cruise port prior to that, so they had some modifications on how to travel once arriving. First, they have these open trailers that we had to walk through to protect us as we walked down the length of the pier.
Second, we had to take a shuttle the rest of the way down the pier. They ran continuously so no one was waiting around in an unsafe area. It was a very short ride, but I understand that it is safety first and I was appreciative of the extra precautions.
This photo shows some other safety precautions they’ve taken, such as barriers by the rocks and closer to the pier walkway.
The train is just at the end of the pier, so it is a super convenient excursion if you are there from a cruise. We waited a short bit for our time and man it was so hot! I know it sounds crazy, but Alaska was experiencing much higher than normal temperatures while we were there. I share this because you never know what will happen with weather in Alaska and to always bring layers!!
I had done some research prior to the excursion and knew we wanted to sit in the furthest back train car. When they let us in and told us to “pick a car” we turned right and walked to the back train car. The reason we wanted this is because you are allowed to stand outside of the train cars on the outside platforms (pardon my lack of train technical-term knowledge) and this would allow you an unobstructed full view from the very back of the train, but be prepared to compete with “view hogs” – more on that in a bit.
Below, you can see a cruise ship in the window behind us, showing just how close the train is to the pier.
Our excursion does a loop, so for those that choose to sit, this means that it doesn’t matter which side of the train you pick to sit, you are going to get a great view either going up or coming back. You can see below that both sides have large windows, so you can see out of both sides no matter where you are.
Before we started moving, our attendant came by with an intro speech, passed out brochures and pointed us to the cooler with free bottled water. Once the train started moving, we were free to get up. Our train had two other families that got up IMMEDIATELY…one took over the back platform and one took over the other platform at the front of the car.
The family in the back basically stayed there the entire trip up, then only a few of them sat down on the way back. I got tired of waiting and went and stood on the platform in the front of the car and the family saw us and scooched over to let us see and then eventually left. The back also opened up a few spots eventually. So here are my few tips there:
- If you want to be the first outside, pick your seat accordingly and get up quick and go when given the all clear. When we arrived, both the front and back sets of seats were taken by those two families, so we sat in the middle. We didn’t have a chance against them haha
- Be patient. This is a long train ride and folks will get tired of standing and go sit back down eventually. Or they will say they’ve “seen it on the way up, no need to see it on the way back” and go sit down.
- Be friendly. Go stand outside and either squeeze in or wait. The view is still great and maybe someone will see you and give you some room.
Knowing the trick and heading towards the back…worth it! Look at that wide open view!
I particularly enjoyed the fresh air flow of being outside, so even if I was standing back a bit, it was still better than being inside.
The main event of this excursion? The view!
We were so fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day that provided such a spectacular view.
Some other fun parts of the trip:
You go through some caves that are pitch-black and you may even get a little wet if you are standing outside. The kids loved this and said it was like being on Big Thunder Mountain in Disney.
Throughout the trip, you can see broken down tracks and bridges. Sometimes it looked like that was what you were headed towards! We tried to scare the kids with a “Oh no! We’re gonna fall off!” but they weren’t buying it.
There are some crazy ledge spots, where I advise you to not look down if you are afraid of heights!
On the contrary, there were times when we would be so close to the mountains.
We had a lot of fun taking photos on the way back. Can you tell I was excited to be in ALASKA?!
How did we book this excursion?
We booked through the cruise line since the price was lower due to a sale. You can also book directly through their website at wpyr.com, through alaskashoreexcursions.com or various 3rd party tour sites.
Do we recommend this shore excursion?
Absolutely! This is an amazing way to take in the Alaskan scenery. If you enjoy photography, this excursion is a must.
Did the kids enjoy this shore excursion?
Yes! They enjoyed the freedom being outside and being able to go in and sit if they wanted. My daughter (who was 8 at the time) was the first to call it and went back in and sat, but she still enjoyed the view from inside, she just got to play on the phone a bit in between. So if you have younger children, you may want to make sure you bring something for them to entertain themselves, whether it be a book or electronics – I don’t judge – but you know your children and don’t be naive and think they will want to stand or stare outside for 3 hours straight if that’s not something they’ve ever done before. Best to have a backup plan 🙂
Looking for other Alaska excursion ideas? Check out this post!