Visit Gah dëk (Discovery Claim) and follow the trail to the spot where gold was found in 1896. Lëzrą kä̀nëchà (Dredge No. 4) will tower up out of the valley; once inside you will be amazed at the story of how it plied the creeks for gold, forever altering the landscape. Don’t forget to visit the abandoned company town site of Bear Creek, eerily frozen in time when the last dredge finally stopped running and the company closed its doors over 50 years ago.
Dedge No. 4 National Historic Site
The No. 4 Dredge was built in 1912. It was operated by the Canadian Klondike Mining Company starting in 1913 and was the largest wooden hulled bucket lined dredge in North America. It rests on Claim No. 17 on Bonanza Creek, 10 miles from Downtown Dawson City on Bonanza Creek Road. Maintained by Parks Canada, the giant dredge offers visitors tours daily.
It worked in the Klondike Valley until 1940 before being relocated to Bonanza Creek, where it was operated until 1959. Dredge No. 4 was one of two dozen dredges in the area that churned through the local creeks in search of gold.
Dredging continued in the Klondike until 1966, when the Yukon Consolidated Gold Company shut down their last dredge. Dredge No. 4 is a National Historic site that represents the many decades of corporate mining in the Yukon.
Dredge No. 4 is massive. It is approximately two thirds the size of a football field long and stands 8 stories high. It weighs close to 3,000 tons.
