The world’s smallest desert is located in Canada & it’s a national treasure

Canada is known for having a diverse geographic profile that includes everything from beaches and majestic mountains to forests, but did you know the north also has a world-famous sand dune?

Located in the Yukon, the Carcross Desert is considered the smallest desert in the entire world and is a must-visit if you’re in the area.

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Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, Carcross is only 2.6 km² (one square mile) and is said to be what remains of the last ice age.

“As the glaciers in the southern Yukon melted, large lakes formed and silt built up on the lake bottoms,” Destination Carcross explains on their website. 

“Eventually these lakes dried up, leaving the sandy sediments exposed.”

Want to check it out?

Here, tourists are able to go sandboarding, play beach volleyball, or go skydiving in the summer and can enjoy tobogganing or snowmobiling in the winter – because yes, despite it being a desert, it still gets covered by snow come the winter months.

Before you go, however, it’s worth noting that the dunes are a park reserve, but don’t have any formal protection so please, be respectful, clean and kind while visiting!

From plants and insects, this habitat is fragile but if we continued to treat it with love and care, it’ll outlive and outlast our generation.

So there you have it! Canada holds some pretty cool titles – but who knew ‘world’s smallest desert’ was one of them?

CARCROSS DESERT – YUKON 

Where: Carcross, YT