Ferry, ice bridge, or neither — whether you can drive across the Yukon River to West Dawson right now, worked out from today's date, with 511 Yukon linked.
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Whether you can drive across the Yukon River to West Dawson and Sunnydale right now depends on the season: the George Black ferry runs in summer, an ice bridge carries the road in deep winter, and twice a year — at freeze-up and break-up — neither runs and there is no vehicle crossing at all. This page works out which phase the calendar is in today. It is not a live sensor, so always check 511 Yukon for the actual status before you set out.
Thursday 9 July
The ferry is running across the Yukon River at Dawson
The ferry season usually ends around 15 October.
Live status — check before you drive
This page shows the typical season calendar, not today’s live status. Freeze-up and break-up shift by weeks every year, so check the official source below for the actual crossing conditions right now.
511 Yukon
Open-water season, roughly 15 May to 15 October.
Free, no reservations, first-come first-served. Run by the Government of Yukon, it sails 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in season, with a weekly maintenance break on Thursdays from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. The crossing takes about six or seven minutes. Expect queues leaving Dawson mid-morning and coming back into town in the afternoon and evening. Exact opening and closing dates each year are set by river conditions.
yukon.ca/en/driving-and-transportation/travel-yukon/find-sailing-times-yukon-ferries
Typical season, roughly 15 December to 15 April.
Once the river freezes hard enough, the Government of Yukon builds and monitors an ice bridge across the Yukon River on the road alignment. It opens to light vehicles first and is strengthened in stages as the ice thickens, then closes in spring when it can no longer be kept safe. Opening and closing dates shift with the cold each year.
The bridge stays open until spring melt makes it unsafe — usually around mid-April. Watch 511 Yukon for the closing date.
freeze-up gap · break-up gap
During the freeze-up gap (roughly late October to mid-December) and the break-up gap (roughly mid-April to mid-May), the river is neither open enough for the ferry nor solid enough for the ice bridge, so there is no vehicle crossing. West Dawson and Sunnydale residents plan around it — stocking up before the gap, and crossing only on foot, by boat or by small aircraft when conditions allow. The gap can last anywhere from days to several weeks depending on the weather. 511 Yukon has the current call.
West Dawson and Sunnydale, across the river from town, have no road bridge. Residents there depend entirely on the ferry in summer and the ice bridge in winter to reach Dawson for work, school, groceries and medical care — so the freeze-up and break-up gaps genuinely cut the community off by vehicle for weeks at a time.
The George Black ferry has served Dawson for more than fifty years and is nearing the end of its life, and the ice bridge has become less reliable as winters change. In early 2024 the Government of Yukon released a "What We Heard" report summarizing residents' views on the future of the crossing — options floated ranged from a new ferry to a bridge or even a cable car. No replacement has been chosen or funded yet; it remains at the study stage.
Source: Government of Yukon (ferry, ice bridge and the Yukon River crossing engagement) and 511 Yukon, checked 18 June 2026 (3 weeks ago).