The Dempster Highway, a journey to the end of the world!

Unless you’re interested in remote corners of the world where hardly anyone goes, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the Dempster Highway. However, I think I’ve got a pretty good general knowledge of geography (I’m also a trained geographer, which helps!) and yet I’d never even heard of it before considering a trip to the furthest reaches of the Yukon in Canada. This is the third time we’ve been back to Canada, after a month on the island of Newfoundland and a quick visit to Banff and Jasper.

Not to mention the classic question, “But where’s the Yukon?” and many people have asked us, “Why the Yukon? I’m tempted to answer ‘because nobody goes there’, quite simply… I’m joking, but there is something to that. It may seem a bit paradoxical when you are running a travel blog, but I really do feel less and less like setting foot in the tourist areas of the world. I don’t feel motivated at all to go and visit the ultra-developed, tourist-filled places you see on Instagram. Everyone else goes to Bali, the Maldives, Iceland, Lapland (you name it) and I’m (almost) not interested anymore. To each his own, and I respect everyone’s choices, but personally I want and need to discover places that are isolated from everything, places where there aren’t 500 people passing by every day to take a photo.

After a bit of research (and knowing that we’re pretty limited from Guadeloupe), Mélanie and I decided to discover the Yukon Territory, a Canadian territory in the northwest, on the border with Alaska. Alaska had always appealed to me, as evidenced by the fact that we ended up spending half of our stay there. But it was the Yukon that held me in its spell, especially the experience of the Dempster Highway, a 737km gravel road that connects (approximately) Dawson City to Inuvik and (after another 150km) to Tuktoyaktuk, the last accessible town at the end of the road, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

For me, it’s the definition of an adventure, something I want more than anything else: discovering an isolated region, nobody around, vast open spaces as far as the eye can see, almost no tourists… It’s my vision of happiness at the moment, and of my holidays anyway. I’m going to use this article and these pictures to tell you about this experience and try to make you want to go there one day, although it won’t be easy to put it into words! In fact, it’s more than difficult to put this kind of adventure down on paper…

I’m not going to tell you all about our trip here, because I’m going to write an article about what to do in the Yukon and the must-sees we had the opportunity to see during our stay, but in a few words, we picked up our motorhome in Whitehorse and the start of the trip involves driving from Whitehorse to Dawson City, about 550 km to the northwest, on a pretty good road, paved, without too many problems, apart from some road works and fires in the area that are being extinguished.

We arrived at the end of the afternoon and spent it in Dawson City to fill up the RV, as we had bought groceries in Whitehorse, which I recommend, e.g. in a Walmart, as it is much cheaper and you have much more choice. We stopped at the tourist office to pick up some information about the route, the conditions, the duration, what to do/see, the peculiarities of the places, etc. We took the road (just in case) to get to the airport. We borrow a bear spray (just in case) ($20 deposit refunded afterwards) and go to bed. We leave in the early afternoon, heading for the start of the Dempster Highway, about 40 km east of Dawson (where we arrived).

A beautiful wooden bridge over the river marks the start of the famous Dempster Highway. A meal, a souvenir photo and off you go. A brief moment of tarmac after the bridge and we are finally plunged into the reality of what awaits us for a week (return trip): a dusty, more or less good road, which I’ll tell you about later. Admittedly, my opinion is a little biased as I’m writing these few lines in the sense that we’ve already done the Dempster Highway round trip, but the 70 km stretch to Tombstone Park is done without too much trouble. The road was in relatively good condition as we passed through, and we drove along at 70km/h without any problems. All around us? Nothing but pine forests and what I think were birch trees and a few other deciduous trees. After half an hour’s drive you can see the first hills of the park in the distance. The scenery is really beautiful and the surrounding mountains add a certain charm to the rather flat start.

By the way, I did a bit of research before setting off, but apart from crossing this park and crossing between the Yukon and the Northwest Territories (two border regions of Canada – I’ll tell you more about that later), the Dempster is, of course, still ‘quite hilly’ overall. It’s also worth noting that the track is generally quite wide and elevated in relation to the surrounding area, which is reassuring in a way. We enjoyed the area’s mountainous scenery and took a break outside Tombstone Park Campground, a place where you can stay for a few days and hike around. However, you should be aware that most of the hikes are quite long, even very long, like the famous Grizzly Trail, which takes 2 or 3 days to complete around the park. On the advice of the Dawson City Tourist Office, we decided not to stop on the way out and to hike on the way back.

Shortly after leaving the park, we were lucky enough to come face to face with a brown grizzly (according to us and the documentation we were carrying) who nonchalantly crossed the road in front of us. A brief but beautiful moment! There’s nothing to say, you really feel lucky when you experience the magic of these moments, compared to seeing a bear in a zoo!

We continue along the road, still with beautiful views of the mountains! The road alternates between sections that are as smooth as ever (60/70 km/h) and much harder sections where it’s hard to go faster than 40-50 km/h, with some nice potholes and large gravel sections that can be scary if you slip. We spent our first night in a small spot on the side of the road. There’s literally nobody here. We’ve been driving for 4 hours since we left in the early afternoon. The feeling of landing here, in the middle of nowhere, is completely crazy. No matter how much you look around, there’s nothing but pine trees as far as the eye can see, mountains more or less eroded by time and the elements, and this gravel road that cuts through the middle of this wilderness. It just makes you feel at home.

That’s another advantage of motorhoming that we’re discovering for the first time since we’ve been on the road: the ability to stop anywhere without thinking too much, especially in an area as uninhabited as this! We’re slowly getting to grips with the motorhome we’ve rented, although we soon realize that water (in the sense of showering and washing up) is going to be our biggest ‘worry’. In fact, the motorhome has a 160-liter tank and, let’s face it, it’s impossible to have a shower every 5th day and do the dishes every day with ‘so little’. So we adapted and went into water saving mode. We quickly filled the 4-liter cans we’d bought at Walmart with water from the rivers we came across, used it to wash the dishes and heated it (with propane) to take showers. So no more worries on the horizon. But it’s true that I would have thought the autonomy of a 6 person motorhome would be much greater. Of course, if you have to cook and do the dishes 3 times a day, and if you have to shower 5 times a day, it’s impossible… This would mean having to pay for a campsite every night, which would mean an extra cost of at least $30 for a single pitch and $40-$50 for a pitch with electricity/water, depending on the location. Which would be a shame, especially when you know how much it costs to rent a motorhome.

The next day we set off again, still in the hills after Tombstone Park. The beautiful sky brought beautiful colours to the area and it was always a pleasure to drive this track. We had a few drops here and there which kept the dust to a minimum. It’s especially good when we come across other cars, especially lorries. Mélanie had passed one the day before in the middle of the road at full speed and it didn’t really want to slow down. But apart from that, we didn’t have too many problems with lorries. We generally slowed down quite well and stopped a bit more.

We took in one beautiful landscape after another, crossing the terrain with its distinctive forms, all in beautiful light. As the road continues, we leave more and more of the topography behind us. We stop to fill up with water on the banks of the river so that everyone can stretch their legs. The riverbanks are sublime and the children have a great time throwing pebbles into the river!

A final long stretch of road climbs up to the plateau at the Ogilvie Ridge lookout. This is a beautiful viewpoint over the surrounding valley, with information panels explaining the fauna, flora, permafrost and geology of the area. It’s very interesting and we spend 2 hours here resting, preparing a good meal and taking some photos of the beautiful surroundings.

About 110 km further on (about 1h30 drive) we reach another sign of civilisation, the Eagle Plains area. Time for a well-deserved rest. There’s not much here, but there’s a hotel, a bar/restaurant and a petrol pump (important!). We had a nice hot chocolate and a homemade cake to warm us up!

We decided to keep going, even though it’s getting late, just to celebrate crossing the Arctic Circle. The evening scenery in the beautiful light (it’s around 8-9pm when we’re driving) is first class, more undulating, less marked, but just as beautiful. We stop at the Arctic Circle Crossing sign. A nice view of the surroundings and a little souvenir photo ‘just for fun’.
We also get a few explanations along the way. We drive on for a while, even though it’s getting late. The stretch to the Yukon/Northwest Territory border is perhaps the least interesting since the beginning, but maybe that’s because it’s boring!

After a long drive we arrived at this famous border where we left the Yukon Territory, where we’d been since the beginning of our motorhome journey, and crossed the imaginary line into the Northwest Territories. The arrival had been so crazy that the weather had been rotten as well. Rain, gale-force winds and fog so thick you couldn’t see 20 metres. It was an almost apocalyptic crossing! When we went through again on the way back, the weather was much better and the view from the pass and the surrounding area was sublime. There are magnificent views over the surrounding plains and the play of light is simply dazzling. We take in one beautiful landscape after another as we descend the pass towards the Northwest Territories. At times we pass very close to the mountains that have been carved out to make way for the railway. There’s quite a bit of elevation change, and in rainy weather like this you have to be very careful as the muddy track can be slippery in places.

We continued on the Dempster Highway for the second night, not far from Midway Lake, but it was still a (very) long day’s drive.

After a nice cool night in a quiet lane, we were on the road again in the early hours of the morning. We had to drive the last 30 kilometres to the first ferry across the Peel River. There’s nothing really special about the destination, but the views along the river are nice. We waited for the ferry (CF Abraham Francis Ferry), which was on the other side when we arrived. Funnily enough, it’s actually more of a cabled barge that crosses from one side of the river to the other. Five minutes crossing and we were on the other side. A few kilometres after leaving the boat, we stopped at the village of Fort MacPherson, which seemed lost in the middle of nowhere. We spent just over an hour there, despite a very dry cold that literally froze us. It’s worth noting that there was a gas station open as we drove through, a supermarket, a church, a children’s playground…

An hour’s drive from the first ferry brings us to the famous Mackenzie River. Its impressive cliffs can be seen in the distance along the banks of the river. I don’t really know why or where I know the river from, but I have the impression that I am arriving in ‘familiar territory’. This river is somewhat mythical. After a bit of research on the internet (yes, we get internet with our local SIM card, bought in certain ‘inhabited’ places), we learn that the river in question rises at the Great Slave Lake and flows towards the Beaufort Sea, and therefore the Arctic Ocean. It is the longest river in Canada (1,738 km), navigable only 5 months of the year (the rest of the time it is frozen) and the second largest Arctic delta in the world after the Lena in Russia.

Arriving at the site is much grander in my eyes. I went out to get some fresh air on the edge of the ferry, on this piece of land that gave me the impression of being at the ‘end of the world’. It’s really cold, even though we’re in the warmer months, and I can’t imagine what life is like here in winter! On the other side of the river you can see the village of Tsiigehtchic, which just seems to sit there. What a crazy life it must be here! The ferry makes a sort of triangle to pick up people from the village who want to cross the river at this point, and then crosses the Mackenzie River to get to the other side. Note that this is a ‘real boat’, i.e. not pulled by a cable, haha.

It’s a good two hours’ drive from the ferry to the town of Inuvik, which also seems lost in the middle of nowhere, although according to Canadian statistics it has a population of around 3,500. The road leading there is less interesting, in my opinion. There is even less relief, but still quite a lot of trees. We did it at night on the way back, at 11 pm, with a beautiful low sun, but it was still a lot of fun.

After a full day on the road, it’s almost nice to see a bit of ‘civilisation’, even if the town itself isn’t exactly a dream come true. It’s the first time we’ve seen concrete since we left, about 10 km from Inuvik, roughly from the town’s airport. The town reminded me of an old USSR town (haha), with square buildings, very strange architecture and no real beauty to speak of. In short, it doesn’t really make us want to stay here! We took a quick stroll along the main street of the town, which wasn’t very interesting, especially considering how cold it was. For your information, the average annual temperature in the city is -9°C, which is pretty chilly, isn’t it? To recharge our batteries we decided to spend the night at a campground in town (Happy Valley Campground – $35 per night) to have a proper shower, fill up the camper and ‘dump’ the black/grey water. We also took the opportunity to fill up with petrol, which cost us an arm and a leg here ($2.45 a litre), much more expensive than in Dawson, but we had no choice. It’s worth noting that there’s a big shopping centre on the main street with everything you need, including a pharmacy and a Pizza Hut!

The shower did us good, though (we got dressed quickly afterwards, didn’t we!), and we ate that evening at the MacKenzie Hotel restaurant in town. It turned out to be very good.

The next day we left the city for the last stretch of road before the Arctic Ocean. The change of scenery is striking, as there are hardly any trees along this stretch of road. By the way, a little anecdote: the day before I spoke to some scientists who explained that they come to Inuvik every year to study the permafrost. Permafrost is a type of ground that is frozen all year round, and almost the whole town and even the whole region is made up of it. In other words, you are driving on a meter or two of frozen ground. Because of the climate and the ambient temperature, the ground is completely frozen at depth, and the buildings have to adapt to this, in particular by being built on stilts so as not to deform the buildings. The scientists tell me that from the Arctic Circle downwards, this type of ground is found almost everywhere in the region. They say that you can “estimate” the thickness of the permafrost by looking at the presence of trees. The bigger the trees, the thicker the soil above the frozen ground.

The topography has completely disappeared on this stretch of road and the landscapes are very different from what we’ve seen since we started. We’re on the plain of the Mackenzie Delta and there’s very little vegetation, very few bushes, just grass and lakes as far as the eye can see. It’s really beautiful and makes quite a change, even if it does get a bit monotonous after 3 hours on the road. Or maybe it’s the Arctic Ocean calling! The road is generally not as good as the rest of Dempster, with lots of potholes and less hilly terrain. So watch out for the road here! On the way we passed a lot of people stopping to pick berries, which are everywhere at this time of year. I have to admit that we’re always a bit wary of berry picking when we’re not sure (I always have the film ‘Into the Wild’ on my mind)! We also saw quite a few snowmobiles parked along the road. I think they must be stored here during the summer, but these areas must be covered with snow during the winter and therefore passable!

Funnily enough, this is where we’re going to see the most wildlife since we started travelling. We’ll have a chance to see some birds, foxes, chickens, squirrels and marmots (who knows?).

After three hours on the road from Inuvik, we reached the end of the road, the town of ‘Tuktoyaktuk’, also known as ‘Tuk’. The first impression is strange. In the distance you can see big buildings, old barrels, a whole rubbish dump on the side of the road as you arrive, lots of rubbish everywhere. It looks like an old industrial town, half abandoned. It is clear that no effort has been made to make the town more attractive to the few tourists who have come to brave the Dempster and the elements and come here to touch the Arctic Ocean! At the same time, I’m sure they have other things to worry about than the whims of a few geography buffs like us!

Entering the ‘city centre’ leaves a mixed impression. We met a few souls here and there, but it still felt a bit like a ghost town… We did get a few smiles from the local children though! We drove the last few kilometres to park in front of the famous ‘Arctic Ocean’ sign. Here we are, finally, after almost three days on the road, in front of the Arctic Ocean. The end of the road! We’re still very proud of the fact that we’ve managed to complete this legendary 800km trail (one way). Although it wasn’t warm at all when we arrived (it was cloudy), we took a walk along the shore where we touched the water, of course. I might as well say I just put my hand in, because I was kidding myself when I said I was going to swim in it! All the while knowing that we were all more or less sick after catching a good cold!

We decided to go to the tourist office at the entrance to the town, specifically to get the number of Eilein, a ‘well-known’ grandmother in the town who prepares local dishes for people passing through. We’d even chatted briefly on the Dempster Highway Facebook group. We went straight to her house and met this lady with her strong temperament, her openness and her honesty. I like that! We got to know each other and asked her what she could cook! She showed us around the kitchen. We went to fetch Pascale, who was staying in the motorhome, and started the meal with her, right in her kitchen. It was a great moment of exchange and sharing with a local, something rare in my eyes and part of the reason why I travel. We had a wonderful hot vegetable and caribou soup, beluga, fried and dried fish (magical!) and a kind of spicy chilli with caribou. Frankly, I’m over the moon. It costs $50 per person for the whole meal, with homemade rolls and coffee/tea!

We spend the night in a tuk at the entrance to town, in the ‘Day Area’, a kind of rest area, perfect for us, overlooking a lake and a pingo, a shape so peculiar to the region. This is a dome of ice partly covered with earth and grass (at least from a distance). According to my research, they are mainly found in the Arctic regions and the process is essentially due to the expansion of the water when it freezes and to the cycles of freezing and thawing in these regions.

I take a moment at sunset to take some photos of the area, a feast for the eyes in this beautiful evening light. We spent the morning of the following day walking around the town. The weather was fine and we made the most of the early morning sunshine to explore the cemetery, the seafront and the local streets. After one last meal in this corner of the world, we made our way back.

I’m not going to tell you about our return journey as it would be of little interest. Throughout this story I’ve told you about it from time to time. There was nothing special about it, apart from the pride of having made the round trip without an accident, without chips on the car, without punctured tyres. Compared to what we’d heard, we did pretty well!

I wanted to say a few words about Tombstone Park. It’s only an hour’s drive from the Dempster entrance and we decided not to stop there on the way out. On the way back, and on the advice of the Dawson City Tourist Office (go there before you leave), we decided to take a break on the way back and hike the Goldenside Trail. According to the maps and the lady in the office, this is one of the few ‘fairly short’ hikes that you can easily do with children (aged 4 and 8 – just so you know).

We started the walk in the late afternoon. We walked along this beautiful path through small bushes! Let’s face it, it’s clearly not warm at all, and a little icy wind is freezing our ears and noses! The trail is really nice, well laid out, winding up the mountain side. We met a few Quebecers dressed as if it was summer (haha!) but otherwise we were clearly at peace. After an hour and a half’s walk, we reached the top, the summit. The children were in top form and even Téo, 4 years old, walked without saying a word. To be honest, I was quite surprised, as we don’t do much walking in Guadeloupe at the moment, and I wouldn’t have bet on him not complaining…

All the way up, the views of the valley leading into Tombstone Park are superb, breathtaking even when the weather isn’t perfect. At the top, the views of the surrounding area and other peaks and valleys are magnificent, and everyone’s eyes are filled. Here we are, alone in the world, on top of a mountain, isolated in a remote region where obviously not many people pass through, and we’re the happiest of all. Despite everything, the cold soon brought us back to our senses and it took us an hour to get back down to the car park without too much trouble.

A great walk if you want to take in the sights and stretch your legs after all those hours on the road!

In preparing for this trip on the Dempster Highway, I had imagined a few things and looked at a few pictures (but not too many). Despite all that, it is a truly magical experience in my eyes. It really is a mythical road trip, almost 1,700 km of track there and back, it’s pretty crazy when you think about it, isn’t it? On the other hand, the thing that really motivated me to do it was the fact that it’s not very well known and not a lot of people are really interested in it. And maybe that’s just as well, isn’t it? That it stays as it is and doesn’t become a tourist factory that’s Instagrammed every 30 seconds. Well, whatever.

Anyway, to get back to the point, I would have thought the 800km would be monotonous at times, but I was pleasantly surprised because the landscapes are quite varied. The first part whets your appetite, followed by the beautiful scenery of Tombstone Park, then the more blunt terrain, the crossing of two rivers, including the famous Mackenzie, the chaotic crossing of the border between the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, then the passage to Inuvik, and finally the flatter, less wooded part between Inuvik and Tuk!

It should also be said that there were three of us driving, which made the journey a lot easier. Driving this route alone must be much harder, as you have to concentrate all the time to avoid potholes, slopes, slowing down to let a truck pass, being careful on descents and so on. As for the temperature, since I haven’t talked about it much, it was the beginning of August and it was never more than 12°C, generally between 7 and 10°C, day and night. So make sure you bring suitable clothing!

Secondly, as far as the route is concerned, I think it was a very good idea to do it in a camper. However, we did see quite a few people in normal cars (so it’s done) and, believe it or not, quite a few people on bikes, either alone or in pairs. I say ‘respect’ because the road is a long way from the sea. I say ‘wow’ because the road is anything but flat, it’s dusty and while there’s not much traffic, you literally have to eat dust every time you pass a car or truck that’s everywhere. The physical and mental effort must be great, and the organization too! So, well done!

In terms of organization, the motorhome allowed us to stop wherever we wanted and be autonomous, which was great. There are campsites along the route that are actually quite ‘present’, so if you want the comfort of a shower, for example, don’t worry. For the rest, there are plenty of places to stop along the way.

Finally, the sensation of having walked this trail is extraordinary. There’s a sense of immense freedom that I don’t think I’ve felt anywhere else since I started traveling. You’re literally in the middle of nowhere, almost always on your own, with no internet and none of the usual pollution of the western world. It really does cut you off from everything for a very long time, and in the end it’s a welcome retreat. The only disappointment, if there was one, was that we didn’t see too much wildlife. Given the amount of wilderness we have crossed, we would have expected to see more animals. Is this because of the many burnt areas we came across along the way? I don’t know, but it was a bit heartbreaking to see, although you can see that nature takes over very quickly anyway!

Anyway, the Dempster will leave its mark on you if you like peace and quiet, emptiness, vastness as far as the eye can see, wilderness and the challenge of covering more than 1800 km of track (A-R)!

See you soon for another article on the Yukon. In the meantime, read Valérie’s article on what to see in Montreal.

See you soon,