It was a major access route from the coast to Yukon goldfields in the late 1890s. The trail became obsolete in 1899 when a railway was built from Dyea's neighbor port Skagway along the parallel White Pass trail. The Chilkoot Trail and Dyea Site was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1978. In 1987, the trail was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. In 1998, the centennial of the gold rush, Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site in British Columbia merged with the U.S. park to create the Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park.