Cassiar Highway Recent Driving

Just came thru on the Cassiar HWY 3 day ago and did not have any problems. I too thought that is would be a rough pull but found that is was not bad at all. Yea there are a few pot holes along the way but most of them are well marked with a small red sign saying to slow down. When you see them SLOW DOWN and you don't know how bad the road will be. There was a small section of grave about 200yds but no sweat. I think the roughest spot we hit was about 300yd after we hit the YT boarder WATCH THAT ONE IT IS ROUGH.

We were nervous about this drive as well -- started the Cassiar on 6/13/13, took our time, stopped a few places overnight, and got to Watson Lake on 3/18/13. 37, with its bumps and short gravel stretches, was actually in much better shape than some of the long gravel segments and other rough patches that we encountered on the Alaska Highway :)

Bridge delays at Bell2 bridge? Don't remember any, so must have been minimal. Bridge work over Liard River outside of Watson Lake did cause a delay as we had to wait several minutes for an oversized vehicle to be carefully maneuvered along the one open lane on the bridge. Not a long wait -- and rather entertaining to watch.

Relax -- enjoy -- it's a great drive and as others have said -- road is in great shape.

Lizzie thank you that is good info
I drove the Alcan both ways this week as a rule we prefer the Cassiar Hwy #37 for at least one direction but I was pressed for time and had heard there were construction holdups at Bell Two bridge of indeterminate length of time.
I don't like the gang-up when traffic is released you lose the sense that you are "alone in the wilderness" for the next several hours. Best plan then is to pull over and make a coffee, take a break.
rkassl sorry I don't have more useful info but I suggest you plan on it for sure you won't be disappointed the highway gets better as you move south.
Good luck.

Thank you for the information!

In response to your question: We turned onto the Cassiar Highway at 3:15 pm (PDT) last Friday (June 7th) and intersected with the Alcan at 3:00 pm last Monday (June 10th). The road was fine. There were ocassional bumps, potholes, and graveled spots but no problem at all for our truck and TT. It was worse from Jade City to the Alcan which probably makes southbound traffic uneasy, but its gets better. The area that was flooded has been repaired. It is a beautiful road and we loved every minute of it. lizzie

Haven't been on the Cassiar this year, but from past experience can state the washouts are usually well-repaired by crews.

On two occasions we were in groups of vehicles escorted through washouts on the Cassiar Highway while the water was still running across the highway ... ground was firm though and we all made it fine. Excavator standing by to continue with repairs.

This recent incident seemed to be high water just sitting across the highway, rather than streams running across the highway. Likely no problems driving through there now that the water has receded.

On the Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and the northward turn-off to the Klondike Highway the water did the same a couple of weeks ago. It has receded and the highway is fine.

Even the portion of the Alaska Highway near Mendenhall west of Whitehorse that was flooded a few weeks ago and closed is open again and also fine to drive across.

Water is high in many places ... for those heading to Alaska, check the weather alerts for the central and east area of the state ... high water is threatening as it often does this time of year.

Specifically I wanted to know from someone who has recently driven it how was the road where the water washout was a little while back.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26983355.cfm
is the thread about the temporary closure of Hwy 37 due to flooding. Note it is now open.

In what sense wasn't the DriveBC site not helpful? What did you want to know? I see several webcams, and several maintenance notices; more on Hwy 16. There are weather reports as well.

And since it uses Google Maps you can zoom in and see all the curves and terrain.

What, exactly are you wanting to know? Is it paved? yes. Are there some go-slow spots? yes. Is there camping? yes..Boya Lake is one of the most popular. Is there boondocking places? yes, lots.

What to do? hmm...I see you are a pretty big outfit,so I shall presume you don't want to go to Telegraph Creek, from Dease Lake. Too bad.

Stewert BC, just west of Meziadin (which as a great campground), and Hyder Alaska are both popular destinations. The Bear Walk in Hyder..the 'Bus'..get Hyder-ized.


If you have a specific question, I'll do what I can to answer it.


Gary Haupt

search here on the Forum for Cassiar/ highway 17 and you will find out that recently it was closed but someone local will provide updates.