Alaska Highway

After Pearl Harbor the United States needed an overland route to Alaska, and about eleven thousand American soldiers, a third of them from segregated Black regiments, together with Canadian civilian crews pushed roughly two thousand seven hundred kilometres of road through muskeg, permafrost and mountains between March and October 1942. The Black regiments were given the worst equipment and sections and their contribution was long unacknowledged. Mile 0 is a post in Dawson Creek. The route has been straightened repeatedly and is now paved throughout, though frost heaves make the surface uneven. Bison, bears, moose and stone sheep are common on the roadside.

What you actually see

• Mile 0 - the marker post in Dawson Creek where the highway starts.
• The 1942 engineering - bridges, cuts and the story of the construction crews.
• The wildlife corridor - bison, bears, moose and sheep along the road.
• The northern Rockies section - the most scenic stretch around Muncho Lake.

When to go

June to September, when services are open and daylight is long; winter driving is possible but demands preparation and many businesses close. Frost heaves are worst in spring.

Honest expectations

Services can be two hundred kilometres apart and fuel is expensive. Frost heaves damage vehicles at speed. Wildlife collisions are a real hazard, especially at dawn and dusk.

Nearby

Muncho Lake and Liard Hot Springs are on the route; Whitehorse is further north.