Within months of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States, in cooperation with Canadian authorities, began building a highway from British Columbia to Alaska, then a territory and considered vulnerable to attack from Japan. Construction of the road began. His original 1,685-mile road was completed in less than nine months, mobilizing more than 10,000 of his soldiers.
An upgraded version opened in 1948 and has been continually repaved and rerouted. According to The Milepost, a guidebook for this drive, the distance from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, Alaska, is currently just under 1,400 miles.
This highway was the centerpiece of my family road trip from Alaska to Idaho last September, passing through the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Alberta, Canada, along the way.
With sparse cell service on this drive, relying on Google Maps won't get you very far. In preparation, my son found a 1972 road map of Western Canada and Eastern Alaska that remains fairly accurate.
This route takes in some of the most beautiful scenery in North America and is perfect for travelers on a budget. We spent about $300 on fuel for the entire trip in a midsize SUV. We started off the coast of Valdez, Alaska, camping frequently and eating picnic meals. We spent one night there on a 32-foot powerboat listed on Airbnb ($68 per night). Great blue herons and harbor seals are next door.
May and September, the start and end of the route's busy season, are also the best times to see wildlife, which is often swept to lower elevations by snow.
a lesson in patience
From Valdez, we headed to Wrangell St. After passing through Elias National Park and Preserve (free), the largest national park in the United States, we joined the Alaska Highway at Tok. Tok is a small town about 90 miles from the Canadian border that has a grocery store and plays a major role in serving sparsely populated eastern Alaska. gas stations and restaurants.
On the first day, we planned to drive deep into the Yukon Territory, but it took us two hours to reach the lone agent at the border crossing, even though there were only 10 cars in front of us. The agent asked us a few questions (mostly regarding firearms and hunting) and sent us on our way. I'm on my way.
This was the first of many slowdowns caused by unpaved roads, construction detours and areas of blacktop overhanging the frozen ground.
Yukon Wilderness
Approximately 600 miles of the Alaska Highway crosses Yukon Territory.
From the border, the road heads southeast through the Yawning Valley, with its meandering streams and long glacier-fed lakes, to Kluane National Park and Reserve, home to Canada's highest mountain, 19,551-foot Mount Logan, and more than 2,000 glaciers. going now. Together with nearby Wrangell Street, Elias and other parks form a UNESCO World Heritage Site dedicated to the largest ice field outside the polar caps.
“This is what the Rocky Mountains would have been like many years ago,” said Fitz McGaughey, director of visitor experience product development for the park, where about 80 percent of the park is covered in snow and ice. Told.
As the sun was setting, we chose the first campsite we could find north of the park. At tranquil Lake Creek ($20 CAD per night, or about $15), we were able to camp along the river. So I started a fire, made quesadillas, and fell asleep to the sound of owls, clutching a can of bear spray.
city break
After days of driving, camping, and eating delicious reindeer hot dogs at a gas station in Haines Junction, we stopped in Whitehorse, Yukon's capital and the only major city on the highway. . It was chosen as one of the 52 places to visit in 2024. It is listed as a destination for Northern Lights tourism.
A 3-mile trail that traverses 350 acres of forested land in the nearby Yukon Wildlife Refuge connects habitat for 12 tundra species, including thinhorn sheep, arctic foxes, and Canada lynx (admission (cost $19).
We checked into the Raven Inn ($284), strolled through Whitehorse's walkable downtown, and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at Berry of the Bison (bison bolognese, $34). The waitress then directed us to the '98 Hotel lounge for a “real taste of Whitehorse.”
It was open mic night at the bar. The bar was decorated with animal skins and antique rifles, and a free Molson beer mug arrived every time someone rang the bell above the bar to buy out the house.
The MC reminded the audience, “If you don't live today, there will be no tomorrow,'' and encouraged the reluctant performers.
yukon kitsch
For the most part, the Alaska Highway is free of roadside kitsch, but there is one very charming exception: Signpost Forest (free) in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.
The forest of utility poles, about 440 miles southeast of Whitehorse, has been the site of a motor vehicle drive since 1942, when a homesick American soldier, Carl K. Lindley, erected a sign marking the distance to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. There are countless road signs installed by people.
Now, license plates and tributes made of everything from flip-flops to toilet seats compete with signs.
“We're calling this the largest public display of stolen property in North America,” Watson Lake Mayor Chris Irvin said in a phone interview, adding that there are about 1 million signs in the forest. I presumed that there was.
British Columbia Springs and Safaris
We've seen bears and moose in Alaska and Yukon. But the wildlife of northern British Columbia, which we entered just after Signpost Forest, felt more like a safari.
We saw a black bear emerge from the forest and stopped frequently to observe herds of caribou and wood bison grazing on the shoulder of the highway. A family of lighthorn sheep licking the road salt, their hooves gliding across the pavement, almost hit our car.
To our relief, our next destination, Liard River Hot Springs State Park, offered camping behind an electric bear fence ($26/night). Campers have unlimited access to this spring, which can be reached through a boardwalk (the original spring was built by the American military in 1942). It was originally called Tropical Valley because it lies above a warm-water wetland and boreal forest where species such as orchids are very rare.
Despite mossy banks, rubble bottoms, and temperatures ranging from about 108 degrees to 126 degrees, the park's natural pools were open 24 hours a day, and we enjoyed stargazing nights and dawn mist the next morning. I felt lonely even inside.
mile zero
The highway flattens out as it approaches the start of Dawson Creek. Dawson Creek is a town in British Columbia with a population of 500 people, but when construction began on the highway, the population grew to about 10,000 people virtually overnight. The hallways of our hotel, the modest George Dawson Inn ($174 including breakfast), were filled with soldiers working the roads, sitting on muddy trucks, and bathing in the river. There were lots of black and white photos of people.
This highway's often-photographed Mile Zero marker is adjacent to the former grain elevator, which has been restored as the free Dawson Creek Art Gallery.
On the gallery's back staircase is a collection of photographs, letters and tributes called 'The Road'. It included the following anecdote: When indigenous peoples in northern Canada questioned the speed at which roads were being built and were told about Hitler's plans for world domination, one person responded: He will surely die someday like everyone else. ”
parks in alberta
The most direct route from Mile Zero to the Lower 48 enters Alberta and passes through two of the Canadian Rockies' most famous attractions: Jasper National Park and adjacent Banff National Park.
We drove 480 miles, mostly on Highway 40, to Jasper National Park ($22 per family or group), admiring towering mountains, vast river valleys, and herds of elk. The highway follows the glacier-blue Athabasca River to the town of Jasper, where we checked into the HI Jasper Hostel ($306 for a four-bed private room).
We woke up early, pushed aside the tour bus, and headed into the park's Marine Canyon, following cliff-top trails down the river to rapids and pools, peering into the river's crevices.
The Icefields Parkway, which links Jasper and Banff for about 150 miles, offered spectacular views of waterfalls and mountains peeking through the clouds. We picnicked on the rocky shores of the Athabasca River and skipped tourist developments like the glass-enclosed Columbia Icefields Skywalk, where admission fees start at $41.
A double rainbow arched over Highway 93 as I entered the popular Canadian mountain town of Banff. We stayed at the Juniper Hotel ($317), just outside the busy city center, and took advantage of its free shuttle service to the town center to stop at Three Bears Brewery and Restaurant ($8.95 a pint). We circled around and stocked up on picnic supplies at Wild Flower. Bakery.
quiet alternative
On a sunny morning, as Banff's magnetism shifted and mountain views appeared as if on every lane, we backtracked about 19 miles back onto Highway 93, veering southwest into the Kootenay National Park. We entered the park ($22 per family or group).
In Kootenay, we had Marble Canyon to ourselves, a 60-foot canyon with marble walls polished by a roaring river. Seven bridges allowed us to cross narrow gaps as ruby-crowned finches chirped from the pines.
We found the Kootenay crowd at Radium Hot Springs ($17.50). Surrounded by forested slopes, this large pool didn't have the feel of a natural hot spring, but the family-friendly shallow water and biting cold made for a nice change of pace.
Last order
The U.S. border from Kootenay National Park is about 220 kilometers south on a busy road that skirts the rivers and lakes that skirt the Kimberley ski area in British Columbia, where we visited a new boutique hotel. We spent our last night at Larix (room rates start at $155 including breakfast).
Once a lead, silver, and zinc mine, this small town is now an outdoor destination with three golf courses, a downhill ski area, and more than 90 miles of biking trails. Restaurants and breweries in the pedestrian center included Hourglass, which served cocktails, charcuterie, and cheese plates (starting at $22); “We're packing a lot into this small town,” co-owner Brianna Furst said.
Just over an hour from the border, the Kimberley was the perfect place to end a trip that had so much to offer that I couldn't finish reading the novel I had brought with me.
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