The Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site, or simply Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile, lies within the Traditional Territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Located near the Alaska border, the 50-hectare site sits at the confluence of the Fortymile and Yukon Rivers. The site is located 88 km downriver from Dawson City, Yukon and is accessed by road and by water.

Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile is co-owned and co-managed by the Government of Yukon and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, as per Chapter 13, Schedule A of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Final Agreement.  Management of the site is guided by the Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site Management Plan (2006) and the Forty Mile Cultural Resource Management Plan (2014). 

Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile has immense cultural and historical significance to the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and other First Nation groups. From antiquity to contact times, the Hän speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Alaska, as well as their neighbours – the Gwitchin, the Tanana and the Tutchone – utilized the site as an area for harvesting caribou, fish and berries. Additionally, the site shows a significant material record of late prehistoric use.

In 1887, Forty Mile became the first non-native settlement in the Yukon.

In May of 2023, an ice jam flood occurred at Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile causing significant damage to the site including its access trails, historic buildings, contemporary work camp and campground. 

In September 2023, Tr’ondëk–Klondike was inscribed as a World Heritage Site. Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile is one of the eight component sites that make up Tr’ondëk–Klondike. The impacts of the flooding earlier in 2023 do not change the cultural significance nor the ancestral legacy that these lands hold for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Yukon.

Conserving CH'ËDÄHDËK / FORTY MILE For the Future

Following the ice-jam flood in May 2023 at Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile and due to the severity of the impacts of the flooding, site assessments were conducted and the need for a Conservation Plan to provide guidance for the conservation of the sites historic structures and characteristics was sought. The ice-jam flood caused significant damage to its buildings, access trails, work camp, campground, and landscape. See Site map below.

In June 2024, ERA Architects Inc. was contracted to develop a survey and host community engagement in Dawson City, for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the public to help inform the future of Forty Mile.

In March 2025, ERA Architects Inc. finalized the conservation plan for Forty Mile to establish a framework for next steps. The report addresses conservation approaches for the historic buildings and landscape at the Forty Mile townsite. The Conservation Plan is included below. 

Implementation of the conservation plan and site cleanup is still underway. 

Due to the hazards posed by debris, damaged trails and unstable structures, Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile remains closed.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Government of Yukon ask the public not to travel to the site until further notice.

Stay tuned to this page for updates and information as conservation efforts continue.

Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile Site Plan - PDF

View the following Ch'ëdähdëk / Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site resources:

June 10, 2024 Joint release between the Government of Yukon and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Community engagement begins for Ch'ëdähdëk (Forty Mile) Historic Site conservation plan

2014 Forty Mile Cultural Resource Management Plan Vol I and Vol II 

2011 Forty Mile: Ch'ëdä Dëk Walking Tour

2007 Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site Interpretation Plan

2006 Forty Mile, Forty Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site Management Plan 

2006 Archaeology at Forty Mile/Ch’ëdä Dëk