Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway (Alaska-Canada Military Highway; Alcan), 2430 km (1500 mi.) long, is the main route from Dawson Creek in British Columbia through the Yukon Territory to Fairbanks in Alaska. The following distances are measured from the starting point at Dawson Creek.

Fort Nelson: 480 km (298 mi.)

Watson Lake: 1015 km (630 mi.)

Whitehorse: 1473 km (915 mi.)

Fairbanks: 2444 km (1515 mi.)

Although the highway is open to traffic all the year round, there is always the possibility, especially in the Canadian section, that weather conditions such as melting snow in spring and heavy rainfall in summer can lead to some stretches being blocked. The speed limit is 80 kph (50 mph), and higher speeds are definitely not recommended. Filling stations will be found at regular intervals along the road, and they can also carry out running repairs. Also along the whole length, but particularly on the section between Watson Lake and Whitehorse, motels, service areas and camp-sites can be found close to the highway.

The main reason for building the Alaska Highway was the Japanese occupation of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska during the Second World War in 1941. In a record time of eight months between March and October 1942, equivalent to 10 km (6 mi.) a day, Canadian and American soldiers constructed a marked-out route in the extreme north of the states which provided safe transport for troops and provisions to Alaska, which until then had been almost unprotected in a military sense. Originally built solely to meet military needs, after the end of the war the Alaska Highway was opened to civilian traffic and since then has become the major access road and tourist route into the Yukon Territory and southern Alaska.