Watson Lake, the Gateway to Yukon, has much to offer to visitors and Yukoners alike. Just stop in at the Watson Lake Visitor Information Centre (VIC) to learn all about it and chat with some of the Yukon’s friendliest ambassadors.
The Watson Lake VIC is located behind the Sign Post Forest off the Alaska Highway and the corner of the Campbell Highway.
“Watson Lake is probably Yukon’s best kept secret,” said Dianna Raketti, supervisor of the VIC. “There is so much more than what you see from the highway.”
And she should know. Raketti first worked at the VIC in the summer of 1966.
The VIC is open seven days a week from May to September each year and currently has six staff who, among them, have 93 years of experience.
“I think that I speak for all of us who work at the centre when I say that we enjoy meeting people and finding out where they come from. We strive to make their vacation one that they will never forget.”
And this works both ways. Raketti recounts the many fantastic people that she has met over the years, the stories she remembers and how many visitors have in fact become her friends that she will never forget.
“We have so many funny things that have happened here at the centre. Many years ago a lady came into the centre and was so upset because she thought that the citizens from Watson Lake went around the world and stole signs from everywhere to hang in our sign post forest,” recounts Raketti.
She also recalls the time when a Japanese tourist was visiting and it was his birthday the next day. The staff at the centre made a cake for him as a surprise and arranged for him to be included in the float for the Canada Day Parade. He was so surprised and happy and he still sends postcards to this day. This small gesture really exemplifies that it is the little things that the staff do that make a difference.
The staff at the VIC in Watson Lake make it a point to personally know and greet the people that pass through the doors of the centre each day.
Services are offered in English only, although one person speaks some German. They always manage to get the visitors to understand, even if there is a language barrier, as people from all over the world pass through the centre each summer.
“It can become very comical to watch sometimes as body and facial gestures are made to overcome the language barrier,” laughed Raketti. “The most important part of the language barrier is to make the visitor feel comfortable.”
As Watson Lake is the first Yukon community travellers driving the Alaska Highway enter when coming from the South, it is a place where many tourists stop for a few days to rest up, do some laundry and take in their first sights and experiences of the Yukon.
The VIC recounts the history of the building of the Alaska Highway through the Alcan Gallery and an 18-minute movie presentation.
They can visit the Northern Lights Space and Science Centre where the Northern Lights perform six times a day on a domed screen.
There is the Watson Lake Airport where you can learn the role of the airport during and after the Second World War as well as see the last remaining hangar built for use in the Northwest Staging Route.
The recreation centre is available for a game of squash, a shower or a sauna and there is also an indoor pool open to the public.
The jewel in the middle of town, known as Wye Lake Park, offers hiking trails and beautiful scenery.
There is also Lucky Lake Recreation Park where you can enjoy the sandy beach and a swim or hike to Liard Canyon.
The Albert Creek Bird Banding Station is located 13 kilometres west and is becoming increasingly popular each April to mid-June for birdwatchers.
And, of course, there are many great places to go fishing in and around Watson Lake.
