Delta Junction, Alaska, 98 miles south of Fairbanks, is the official northern end of the highway, but Fairbanks is the destination for most Alaska Highway motorists. The Richardson Highway, in place for decades before the Alaska Highway was opened, is the route north to Fairbanks from Delta Junction.
The "Alcan", as it's often known, actually begins at the "Mile 0" signpost in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, but Edmonton is the most common access point to it. Edmonton is also a favorite destination for Yukon residents looking to spend a few days in a large city. This route takes you through a wide range of terrain, from the rich agricultural region of northern Alberta and BC's Peace River district, to the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and Cassiar Mountains. Rivers and lakes are too numerous to count, many of them showing the brilliant colors that indicate their origin in nearby glaciers.
There are many interesting sights and possible stops along the way, including:
- the Alaska Highway "Mile 0" monument in Dawson Creek.
- the Kiskatinaw River Bridge, a curved, 162-meter-long wooden structure, is the last of the original bridges still in use (although as a side road now).
- several museums offer insights into the lives of the region's First Nations people and pioneers. Of note are those at Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and Teslin.
- the limestone slopes at Summit Pass offer superb short walking trails as well as longer hikes.
- wildlife viewing, with caribou and Rocky Mountain sheep being particularly common in the Stone Mountain and Muncho Lake areas.
- Liard Hot Springs is widely considered to be one of the finest natural hot springs on the continent, with few man-made additions to the large gravel pools.
- the Northern Lights Centre at Watson Lake has a domed screen to show summer visitors the beauty that Northerners see in the night skies all winter long.
- also at Watson Lake is the famous Signpost Forest, where 50,000 signs of various types from around the world have been set up by people traveling up the highway. Add yours to the collection when you visit!
- Stone Mountain Provincial Park
- Muncho Lake—wildlife is plentiful, scenery is awesome
The end of the southern section of the Alaska Highway is the city of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory.
Liard Hot springs
If you drive the Alaska Highway and don't spend some time in the pools at Liard Hot Springs, you've missed one of Mother Nature's most sublime gifts to Northerners. Wonderful in the summer, the springs are beautiful beyond description in the winter. Three hours north of Fort Nelson , B.C., at Mile 477 (km 765), the hot springs should be a red-circled item on your tour map. The water in the 2 pools at Liard remains at close to 105-110 degrees year-round (although there are some hotter spots).
Rika's Roadhouse
The roadhouse was restored in the late 1970's by the state of Alaska and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rebuilt with original timbers on a new foundation, it is still a welcome retreat from the dusty road.
Rika raised silver fox. She also kept cows, sheep, goats, chickens, duck, geese, rabbits, honeybees, and a yoke of oxen to work the grain fields. Rika used the wool from the sheep, made butter and cheese from the goat's milk, and raised chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. A 1929 Travelogue of the Richardson Highway described Rika's as "a commodious roadhouse boasting of such luxuries as fresh milk and domestic fowls." Today chickens, ducks, geese and turkey are kept in a pen on the same site. Feel free to feed them grass through the fence or watch them as they parade around the grounds.
Beaver Creek Rendezvous Dinner Show
A "family style" Yukon barbeque followed by a musical comedy. The show depicts much of the Yukon history from the introduction of the Northwest Mounted Police to the gold rush, to the construction of the famous Alaska Highway.
