Dempster Highway

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. When, in the 1950s, a start was made on searching for raw materials in this largely unexplored region the first few miles of the rough road were made up. Oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort Sea speeded up work on the road - necessary to provide a link and transport provisions to the sites - as far as the mouth of Mackenzie River and this was completed in 1979. A thorough servicing of the car is strongly recommended before setting off along this highway. Petrol stations with repair facilities will be found only in Eagle Plains, Fort McPherson and Inuvik.

Soon after reaching the Klondike Valley, the Klondike River Lodge services come up at the 678 km mark (421 mi.). Here the Dempster Highway turns off into the Canadian north, eventually reaching to Inuvik in the Mackenzie River delta after about 750 km (466 mi.) of magnificent scenery.