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The Midnight Dome is the distinctive hill that rears up behind Dawson City, half-covered in stunted pines and half-eaten away by landslips. It's named because from its summit at midnight on June 21 you can watch the sun dip to the horizon before rising again straight away - Dawson being only 300km south of the Arctic Circle. The Midnight Dome Road runs 8km to its summit (884m) from the Klondike Hwy just out of the town proper. Without a car it's an extremely steep haul (ask at the visitor centre for details of the well-worn and partially signed trail), but more than worth the slog for the massive views over Dawson, the gold fields, the Yukon's broad meanders and the ranks of mountains stretching away in all directions. At the summer solstice there's a race to the top and lots of drink-sodden and fancy-dress festivities down in Dawson. Gold City Tours also run regular daytime and evening tours up here. You can snatch further broad vistas from the Top of the World Hwy (Hwy 9), a good summer-only gravel road reached by the George Black ferry from Front Street across the Yukon (mid-May to mid-Sept daily 24hr; mid-Sept to mid-May 7am-11pm depending on weather conditions and whether or not the river is frozen; every 45min; free; tel 993-5441). After only 5km the road unfolds a great panorama over the area, and after 14km another viewpoint looks out over the Yukon Valley and the Ogilvie Mountains straddling the Arctic Circle. Thereafter the road runs above the tree line as a massive belvedere and can be seen switchbacking over barren ridges way into the distance. It hits the Alaska border 108km from Dawson, where you can cross only when the customs post is open (May-Sept 9am-9pm). Unlike the Dempster Hwy , there's no bus on this route, but you should be able to hitch easily in summer because it's much-travelled as a neat way of linking with the Alaska Hwy at Tok for the roads to Fairbanks and Anchorage or the loop back to Whitehorse. Be prepared to do only about 50kph, and enquire about local difficulties and fuel availability at the Dawson Visitor Reception Centre.
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