Watson Lake offers a range of accommodations including several hotels, motels, bed & breakfast establishments and restaurants. Three of these hotels remain open during the winter months.

There are numerous Internet Service Providers operating in Watson Lake providing dial-up and high bandwith access.

Meeting rooms are located throughout the community.  Yukon College offers meeting rooms year round as well as providing computer fax, photocopying and audio conferencing access.   The Northern Lights Centre has a 100 seat theatre that can be used for multi media presentations and supports video conferencing.

The town of Watson Lake has a cabin available for small meetings and the Signpost Seniors can host small to medium-sized meetings.  Two of the local hotels have meeting rooms, but only one is open year round.  The completion of the new Recreation Complex will give the community many more meeting rooms and the capability to host events up to 500 people.

Sport fishing is enjoyed by residents and visitors from all over the world. Upper Liard has a domestic fishery for dolly varden trout and arctic grayling. The nearby Liard River is a habitat for arctic grayling, northern pike, dolly varden, trout and whitefish. Rainbow trout are available in stocked lakes close to Watson Lake (Lucky Lake, Rantin Lake). Trophy fisherman can fly in to local fishing lodges.

There are many tourist and recreation facilities available in Watson Lake. The Northern Lights Centre offers daily shows explaining the myths and science of the Northern Lights. Wye Lake Park, right in the heart of town, offers beautiful walking trails and bird observation platforms. A family beach, waterslide and walking trails are found at Lucky Lake recreational area. 

The famous Watson Lake Signpost Forest is at the entrance to town. A collection begun in 1942 by a homesick soldier working on the construction of the Alaska Highway, the Signpost Forest grows each year as visitors from around the world add signs to point the way to their home towns.

SERVICES
The community of Watson Lake has developed as a service centre to highway construction crews, mining and forest exploration and development, tourism, trapping, outfitting, etc. 

It offers a range of transportation services with two helicopter companies (Bell 205, 206 and Hughes 500 aircraft), a small air service, and a well established bus company. 

There are nine heavy equipment and trucking companies in town that can provide equipment and experienced operators wherever the need may arise. 

Watson Lake has a locally based Mining Recorder’s office, automotive parts suppliers, a broad range of retail outlets, service stations with qualified mechanics.

MINING
Placer mining occurs annually on the Liard River and its tributaries. Minerals found in the area are: gold, silver, lead, zinc, tungsten, copper, molybdenum, barite and jade. Watson Lake is a regional transportation and communication centre for the mining activity in the southern Yukon.

FISH
Sport fishing is enjoyed by a large number of local residents. As well, sport fishing opportunities in the Yukon attract non-residents fishermen from all over the world. The sport fishery has been estimated to contribute approximately 4 million dollars to the Yukon economy annually. A limited domestic fishery for dolly varden trout and arctic grayling is located in the village Upper Liard (Mile 642) and forms part of the local food resource. The Liard River is a year-round habitat for various fish species including arctic grayling, northern pike, dolly varden, trout and whitefish. Spawning occurs in the tributary streams. Rainbow trout have been stocked in local landlocked lakes such as Hour Lake within the town, and Lucky Lake and Ratin Lake nearby. Lake trout, arctic grayling and northern pike are found in most lakes in the region, including Watson Lake. These lakes are a valuable recreation fishing resource. The new public campground on Watson Lake has a boat launching area where visitors can easily launch boats for fine sportfishing and boating. For the trophy fisherman, there are several good fly-in fishing lodges a short flight from the community. Local air charter services will supply detailed information about fly-in fishing upon request.

GAME
There are 60 traplines in the Watson Lake area. The fur harvest includes beaver, martin, red fox, lynx, mink, muskrat, otter, ermine, weasel, wolf, wolverine and the fisher which is found only in this part of the Yukon. Local to the Watson Lake town site, the land within a five-mile radius is reserved for the use of older and disabled persons. Trapping may be irregular during the season, but is considered important. Hunting provides an important source of food for many Yukoners and Watson Lake is no exception. Moose is the main species hunted and the woodland caribou are also taken. While fewer moose are being taken each year, one out of every three hunters continue to be successful. Because moose meat is often shared by member of a hunting party, and among families, it is an important source of food for many locals. Several guides and outfitters for big game hunting are active in wilderness area surrounding Watson Lake.

Tourism, which shows considerable growth potential for the Yukon, can be expected to continue to increase in the Watson Lake area. Tourism is mostly a summer industry, but efforts are underway to increase the number of winter tourists coming to Watson Lake. The main target of winter tourism has been with groups from Southeast Asia.

There has been some activity in the mining area on a small scale. Despite continued exploration of the southeast Yukon, most of the larger scale operations remain on hold awaiting an increase in metal prices. These would include the Kudz ze Kaya near Ross River and the Sa Dene Hes mine north of Watson Lake. Increasingly, forestry, mining, and all resource sectors are working toward environmentally friendly and sustainable operations. There will be will be a growing need for both technical skills and sound management practice in resource industries. Tourism and ecotourism activities also need these types of skills. 

In 2001 North American Tungsten began milling operations northwest of Watson Lake in the Howard's Pass region just inside the NWT border. The minesite has a production rate of 300,000 mtu per year (meteric ton units) and is the largest producer in the western world and the only producer in North America.