THE YUKON - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 696

The Klondike Visitors Association owns Claim 6 on the famous Bonanza Creek. You
can pan for gold free of charge mid-May-mid-September. Buy a pan from any one of many
shops in Dawson or rent one from Claim 33. At Km 10 (Mile 7) of Bonanza Creek Road,
Claim 33 (867/993-6626, 10am-5pm mid-May-mid-Sept.) is a commercial panning oper-
ation where you pay $15 to pan for guaranteed “color.” Hope I'm not giving away any
secrets, but it's spiked. Still, it's good fun and a way to practice your technique. Claim 33
also has a great gift shop, light snacks, and a yard filled with mining artifacts.
A monument at Discovery Claim, 16 kilometers (10 miles) along Bonanza Creek Road,
marks the spot where George Carmack made the strike in 1896 that set the rush into motion.
A short interpretive trail winds through the site.
ENTERTAINMENT
Dawson City has a mix of rough bars filled with miners and hotel lounges filled with tour-
ists. Somewhere in between is Billy Goat's Pub (952 2nd Ave., 867/993-6989, 4pm-mid-
night), which is a low-key place with comfortable seating and a menu of Greek specialties
prepared in the adjacent Greek restaurant.
Canada's first legal casino, Diamond Tooth Gerties (4th and Queen, 867/993-5525,
7pm-2am Sun.-Wed. and 2pm-2am Thurs.-Sat. early May-mid-Sept.), was named for a
Dawson dance-hall queen with a diamond between her two front teeth. Though casinos
were as common as sluice boxes and saloons at the height of the Dawson madness,
gambling in the Yukon (and throughout Canada) wasn't formally legalized until 1971, the
year this place opened. Games include slot machines, blackjack, poker, sic bo, and roul-
ette, with odds that decidedly favor the house. Drinks are not free, even if you're dropping
major-league cash. This sure isn't Vegas! The 30-minute floorshow of Geritol oldies and
cancan kicks is presented nightly at 8:30pm, 10:30pm, and midnight. Cover charge is $10.
Gerties is run by the Klondike Visitors Association as a money-maker to restore and pro-
mote Dawson City. Take a look around town and you'll see how much money they make
at Gerties (or how much the tourists lose)—around $1 million annually. I'm not saying that
you won't come out in front, but just approach this joint with the attitude that you're mak-
ing a donation. And why not? It's for a very good cause.
Shopping
The Klondike Institute of Art and Culture operates the ODD Gallery (902 2nd Ave., 867/
993-5005, 9am-5am Tues.-Sat.), which hosts exhibits of art by Yukoners. This association