DEMPSTER HIGHWAY
This is the only road in Canada that takes you across the Arctic Circle. The Dempster leads you into a unique landscape, passing through land that, until 190 million years ago, was the coastline of ancestral North America. It takes you through the lands of the Han, Gwitch’in, and Inuvialuit peoples.
It introduces you to the winter habitat of the Porcupine caribou herd. And it takes you across a portion of east Beringia—the vast refuge that escaped continental glaciation during the last ice age. Home to caribou, sheep, eagles, butterflies, falcons and countless other wildlife, the Dempster is truly a way to the wild.
Started in1959, the Dempster Highway was eventually completed to Inuvik in 1979. Much of the highway was built in winter, with the gravel being dumped on top of the moss-covered permafrost. Only trees were cut; shrubs and other plants were buried by the deep gravel. The roadbed conducts heat more than the surrounding vegetation, and it must, therefore, be extra thick to insulate the frozen ground beneath. In a half century of road access, the Dempster has experienced many changes, but the lands through which it passes have maintained their remote character.
For driving conditions call 511 or visit 511yukon.ca