Far from the tourist hordes that fill many of Canada's national and provincial parks each summer, Tombstone Territorial Park lets travellers enjoy both wilderness and solitude. A six-hour drive from Whitehorse, it's far enough away to deter big crowds, but close enough that it's still convenient to reach.

Located in north-central Yukon and surrounded by a generous cushion of wilderness, Tombstone wasn't carved out to prevent the imminent collapse of a particular species. It largely came to be because it's special to the local aboriginal community.

One look at the landscape and I understood why. The park straddles glaciated ridges and valleys, as well as the distinctive unglaciated Beringia landscape, where woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers once roamed. The ancient rounded peaks of the Ogilvie Mountains lie to the north, while a jagged range of iconic spires dominates the heart of the park.