Dempster Highway 
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Administrative Units: Yukon Territory/Northwest Territories
The only public road in North America which actually extends beyond the Arctic Circle starts 40 km (25 mi.) south of Dawson City in the Yukon Territory and ends some 740 km (460 mi.) further north in Inuvik in the Mackenzie Delta (Northwest Territories) on the Arctic coast.
This largely untarred road threads its way through a mainly untamed wilderness with areas of varying vegetation and marked variations in climate, temperatures ranging from 35°C (95°F) in summer to 245°C (249°F) in winter.
As early as the beginning of this century a trail, following an old Indian trade route, led from Dawson to Fort McPherson and was patrolled by the Northwest Mounted Police. This path received sad notoriety in the winter of 1911 when a police patrol strayed from the route and were later found dead. The present highway is named after the leader of search party which found them, Corporal W.D. Dempster.
The only public road in North America which actually extends beyond the Arctic Circle starts 40 km (25 mi.) south of Dawson City in the Yukon Territory and ends some 740 km (460 mi.) further north in Inuvik in the Mackenzie Delta (Northwest Territories) on the Arctic coast.
This largely untarred road threads its way through a mainly untamed wilderness with areas of varying vegetation and marked variations in climate, temperatures ranging from 35°C (95°F) in summer to 245°C (249°F) in winter.
As early as the beginning of this century a trail, following an old Indian trade route, led from Dawson to Fort McPherson and was patrolled by the Northwest Mounted Police. This path received sad notoriety in the winter of 1911 when a police patrol strayed from the route and were later found dead. The present highway is named after the leader of search party which found them, Corporal W.D. Dempster.
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