Tok to Haines Junction: Road to Southeast Alaska Part 2
Alaska Highway!
Welcome to the Alaska Highway, also known and the Alcan (Alaska-Canadian Highway). Wave goodbye to beautiful Downtown Tok, and turn east, then southeast to the Canadian border.
The Alaska Highway is the legendary road connecting Alaska to Canada. Construction began on March 9, 1942, in response to the World War II war effort. Incredibly, the constructing was completed on November 20, 1942. The Alcan later opened to the public in 1948. The Alaska Highway runs from Delta Junction, Alaska to Dawson Creek. The full length of the highway is 1,390 mile.
Over the years, the Alaska Highway has undergone many changes. The legendary adventures of traveling the then gravel highway gave way to a paved road that seems to be under constant construction. Winters and permafrost wreck havoc on the highway leaving portions with cracks and frost heaves. The road trip from Alaska to Southeast includes only part of the Alaska Highway, from Tok, Alaska to Whitehorse, Canada. This post will discuss the Tok to Haines Junction segment.
Tok to Haines Junction is an easy one-day segment unless you wish to spend some time exploring The following places:
Northway, Alaska
Take a short side trip to Northway, a small traditionally Athabascan community. The population is just over 125. We did not visit Northway this summer because of a wildfire that was burning nearby. Summer fire season can alter your road trip. While it is rare that a fire will close a highway, it does happen. The bigger problem is smoke that will impair visibility and can impact people with respiratory issues.
Northway is a border town. We like to stop in the area to prepare for the border crossing. I have all of our paperwork in order and ready to present to the Canadian officials. We travel with our dog. We often travel with firearms for hunting season either in Southeast or Northern Alaska. For information about crossing the Canadian border, we compiled a short report called, Border Crossing For RV Campers on border crossing for RVs. The report has some tips that may be helpful before you enter Canada.
QUICK BORDER TIP: Whenever we cross into Canada, we switch our GPS to metric. We like having all of our road speeds and distances in kilometers. Converting between miles and kilometers is not necessary. Just think in metric and not worry about converting everything. The GPS gives us our speed in Kilometers, so it is easy to stay within the posted limits. Having everything in kilometers also helps with matching the road signs. Our routing automatically converts everything including any ETAs that we have programmed into our GPS routing.
Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek is a favorite stop-over for us whenever we drive through the Alaska Highway. After clearing customs, we like to spend the night or at least take a long break. The people there are very friendly and helpful. Several campgrounds in the area make this an ideal place to take an overnight break. We also top off fuel and pick up a few snacks. If you love bacon, check out the Canadian style center cut bacon. It is meaty and delicious. It is my husband’s favorite Canadian grocery item.
Kluane Lake Region
Kluane Lake is huge! Usually, we drive through this part of Canada in the spring, so the lake is still frozen. This summer we finally got to enjoy it without the ice. Be sure to watch for sheep. The visitor’s center has spotting scopes for sheep viewing. The stop is well worth it. Stretch the legs and learn something about Kluane Lake and the geological points of interest. It sure gives me an appreciation of the surrounding features. The wind kicks up along the river, so that portion of the highway can be sandy with reduced visibility. Destruction Bay is also a beautiful place to take a break. People boondock along unmarked areas. Be sure to leave no trace when you leave so that other people will also enjoy this lovely region.
Haines Junction
Haines Junction is where you decide to either carry on to Haines or head down to Whitehorse and Skagway. We will cover this portion of the Anchorage to Southeast Alaska in our next blog posts. Next week we will insert a short, special segment on the border crossing.
We posted a Google map of the entire Anchorage to Southeast Alaska series, so be sure to click on over and check it out. Below we have additional resources about the Alaska Highway and other points of interest for this region through Amazon.
Fall Colors in August on the Alaska Highway.