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Albert Normandin
Muncho Lake, Alaska Highway, B.C.
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Albert Normandin
Muncho Lake, Alaska Highway, B.C.
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Photos courtesy Tourism BC
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Photos courtesy Tourism BC
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Photos courtesy Tourism BC
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Albert Normandin
Muncho Lake, Alaska Highway, B.C.
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Photos courtesy Tourism BC
Story & photos courtesy Tourism BC
It began as a brutal nine-month build in 1942, backed by a crew of 30,000 US Army engineers and Canadian civilians. Dubbed the Alcan Highway, a.k.a. the Alaska Highway, this 2,451-kilometre (1,523-mile) feat of innovative engineering carved its way through a rugged, unforgiving landscape — a war time effort to connect mainland United States to Alaska. While thoroughly practical in its purpose, today this storied stretch, from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks, Alaska, is favoured by serious road warriors (think RVers and the like), history buffs and those eager for a roadside view of Mother Nature’s best.
Dawson Creek marks “Mile 0” for the Alaska Highway; it also offers keen insight into the struggles faced daily by relentless construction crews. See first-hand how the highway’s creation 70 years ago changed the face of local Northern BC communities at Alaska Highway House, or pause for a picture (a rite of passage, if you will) during a walking tour that includes Mile 0 Post and Mile 0 Cairn, the latter marking the highway’s official starting point.
Post shot, stow the camera and head north. Forget licence plate bingo; spotting wildlife, including moose, buffalo, bears, caribou and Stone’s sheep, along the highway’s expanse promises to be far more entertaining. And when I Spy is played out, put it in park at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum, a draw that features, fittingly, a transportation theme, with vintage cars and trucks, and Alaska Highway equipment and memorabilia.
For an additional pit stop, make tracks of the short-and-sweet variety along the Erosion Pillars Trail, 154 kilometres (96 miles) west of Fort Nelson, near Summit Lake. This one-kilometre (0.6-mile) jaunt will get the blood pumping, and reward your efforts with views of nearby Mt. St. George. (More challenging, multi-day treks, including the Wokkpash Valley-MacDonald Creek Loop Trail’s twists and turns, promise a change of pace.) Prefer to sit back and soak? Liard River Hot Springs, the country’s second largest hot spring, further northwest, offers year-round bliss in a lush boreal forest setting.
Sure, you’ve packed your snacks for the car, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit a few roadside haunts to nosh with the locals.
Start at Mile 375: just 121 kilometres (75 miles) west of Fort Nelson, Tetsa River Services is an ideal one-stop shop. This campground, lodging and restaurant all rolled into one is set at the foothills of the Rockies, and their self-anointed status as the “cinnamon bun centre of the galactic cluster” begs for a stop (and sample).
Toad River Lodge, Cabins & RV Campground, a little further north at Mile 422, serves up hearty, unfussy fare. Here, the coffee is always on; daily supper specials draw crowds with menus chock full of soups, stews and chilli, each coupled with fresh-baked bread. Make your choice, then lean back and check out the stop’s ball cap-covered ceiling.
For more information, or to find out what other adventures await along the Alaska Highway, visit www.HelloBC.com/alaskahighway.