The newly created board for the Canadian version of the Yukon Quest announced Tuesday morning that they are full speed ahead for the 2027 race season. After the former board dissolved in late 2025/early 2026 and announced the 2026 race would be canceled a committee of longtime and loyal volunteers, mushers, and fans came together to revive the race. Now, just a little under two months later they've announced the return of the race.
Note, this is not the Yukon Quest of old, though the Canadian side got to keep the name in the "divorce" when the 1000 mile race's dual boards split. The Yukon Quest Alaska will still take place, as well as the Canadian side. Some had hoped that with a new board in place that the 1,000 mile race could happen again, but that was quickly shut down by the new board citing the logistical challenges of the border crossing and the lack of ice pack on the rivers to get teams safely from one end of the traditional route to the other.
Even just the Canadian side of the race faced that issue in the years it ran independent of Alaska. The trail issues were cited as one of a myriad of reasons the old board shut the race down. However, in today's press release the Yukon Quest board said that they have a solid plan for a safe trail and are even bringing back beloved checkpoints of old.
The race will host two events - a 550 mile long-distance race and a 300 mile mid-distance race. They promise more announcements and updates soon and encourage everyone to follow their social media pages as well as their website to keep up on the action.
Yukon Quest Canada is set to take off from Whitehorse on February 6, 2027. The Yukon Quest Alaska has not announced a race date as of yet, but have announced registration opening on August 22, 2026.
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