DAWSON CITY – The recent clay cliff slides in Whitehorse may have captured the Yukon public’s attention in a big way.

But Dawson’s Moosehide Slide not really safe to clamber around on either, says John Mitchell. His work with emergency rescue teams has seen him have to recover a number of people from the slide over the years.

The Moosehide Slide is still one of the major geographic features in the territory and a distinctive landmark at the north end of the town. It’s thought to have been caused by a geological event or two some 1,700 years ago.

There are a couple of visible trails across the face of the slide, one just a walking trail, and the other the remains of what was once a flume used by a miner to divert water from Moosehide Creek in 1908.

The Ninth Avenue Trail also wends along the lower edge of the debris field. None of these areas should be considered safe at the present, says Mitchell, who agrees with a recent caution posted by Dawson’s fire chief, Mike Masserey.

This slide moves a little bit every year, about 4.5 centimetres on average, and sometimes more. That’s one reason why the former gravel pit below it was ruled out as a possible site for a sewage lagoon back in the 1990s.

Mitchell said there was a movement of rock on the Slide just recently, loud enough to wake up his wife in the middle of the night.

The other slide area of recent note is at the other end of town at Crocus Bluff, around the corner to the southeast of where some people like to do rock climbing.

There is a trail about a dozen metres from the Klondike Highway (which is also Front Street at that point), that is now blocked by a rock fall that happened last Saturday.

The City of Dawson issued a warning notice.

“(Saturday) morning, there was a rockslide at Crocus Bluff,” explains Masserey.

“Rocks are currently blocking the pathway entrance to the park. We have put yellow caution tape around the area as there is the potential for more slides with the continuing rainfall.

“Please be advised to stay away from the viewpoints on Crocus Bluff hiking paths.”

These are at the top of the bluff and accessed by a trail from Mary McLeod Road.

Yukon Parks has been notified of the situation.

The rock fall is many metres from the highway.

Due to the unstable conditions, hikers are advised not to go into areas with the potential for erosion causing subsequent mud and rockslides.

This applies to the Moosehide Slide as well.