Cassier Hwy in mid-September

There are three provincial parks along the Cassiar.

Boya Lake on the north end of the Cassiar Highway is lovely. Closes this year on first snow fall according to BC Parks website. After the 15th there may not be services, meaning no firewood being sold and no fees charged.

Kinaskan Lake is the middle park/campground along the Cassiar Hwy and would make a good break if you want to have something about midway. Closes on first snow fall according to the website.

Meziadin Lake is at the junction of Hwy 37/37A. This year closing Sept 22 according to the BC Parks website. The campground managers don't stay on-site until first snowfall because they have other commitments.

Fuel up at Dease Lake and Bell II. That should get you to the junction of Hwy 16/37. Although if you drive into Stewart, then also fill up there. Be attentive to the opening hours/days of the gas station in Stewart(there's only one gas station) ... the station used to be closed Sundays during the off-season and it closed at 5 p.m. on other days Off-season meaning mid-September. Don't know if they've changed their hours of operation.

There are three RV parks in Stewart & Hyder
1.Rainey Creek Municipal Campground - Stewart
2.Bear River RV Park - Stewart
3.Camp Run-A-Muck - Hyder

Do phone ahead if you plan on camping at one of these spots, to ensure they are open.

Much thanks to joe b, sue, and hawk for all your suggestions. We will definitely follow them as we venture forward. Camping for the past 3 months, we have yet to dry camp so I guess this will be our first experience doing that along the Cassiar. Any provincial park you would recommend over others? For water - where do we fill our water tank before camping? Do most gas stops have that available? I realize that some of my questions are a bit basic, but I have yet to have to do this as we have always stayed at full service rv parks.

The "Bus" in Hyder gets lots of comments, here is a photo of it. I asked the owner, if it was true that the bus originally was headed to Alaska as a "Schoolie" RV and broke down in Hyder. Then it was turned into a cook shack. She told me "not really" but she liked the story. The owner operator of the place is an excellent cook, but due to a lack of prep space in the Bus, orders are done one at a time, so if several orders are ahead of your's, it may take a while to get your food. I have never had anything other than the fish and chips off the menu, with the fish being fresh halibut and the fries done to perfection.
The Bus is located one block west, of the road leading out to the viewing platform for bear watching, or people watching, if you are a bear. LOL



My wife and I with our BIL at the table. (my wife's sister must have taken the photo with our camera)


Some people like the campground in Hyder at Camp Run A Muck but we tend to stay in either Stewart or back to Meziadin Junction and the provincial park. The weather tends to be much better, IMHO, at Meziadin Lake PP than in Hyder/Stewart most of the time.







There was a roadhouse, for many years, with a campground at the Meziadin Junction on the Cassiar. But the lodge/café burned down, the gas bar shut down and the place is in ruins, just a mess.

I would have to agree with Joe B. on all he said. Even if you make the trip from Cassiar to Stewart, you will be worn out. I recommend one of the provincial parks for an over night. If all is closed, then Jade City has free overnight parking. Two day stay in Whitehorse is a good call. Lots to see, plus hiking. The road from the Canadian border to Beaver Lake is rough with construction going on. Expect delays, and we stayed in Lake creek provincial park. It was very nice and quiet, and only $12 to boot.

You will want to arrive in Stewart during the daylight, because as you come down the hill just before Stewart you will see a gigantic beautiful glacier. We stayed at the Beaver Creek Rv park, but there are 3 or 4 others. Went to see the bear viewing, saw two bears, one wolf and tons of fish. Then up to Salmon Glacier. Worth the trip to Alaska alone.

Take your time and enjoy the ride. I would recommend Valdez to Lake Creek. On to Whitehorse arriving around noon. Spend that day, and the next enjoying the city. Travel down the Cassiar to one of the parks, and then arrive in Stewart by late afternoon. Good luck. Drive safe.

We've driven Smithers to Watson Lake in a day, with me driving the F-250 towing a heavy load of household goods on a 23 foot flat deck. We started from Smithers at about 9 a.m. and finished near Watson Lake at 8:30 p.m.

On that trip we did not drive into Stewart/Hyder and stopped at Dease Lake for about 90 minutes for a good break.

The Cassiar is in the best condition its been for years.

We like to take a few days to camp it when we're in vacation mode, preferring the provincial campgrounds. The B.C. gov't has been closing those earlier in recent years though.

You shouldn't find a great deal of change on the Cassiar in mid September with fuel. Most of the Cassiar stations are operated for the locals and as a side with the tourists. The only two stations I can think of that might be closed would be Tatogga Lodge and Good Hope Lake, but either or both may still be pumping at that time. Some of the stations remain open on both the Cassiar and Alaska Hwy till their fuel tanks are empty as they don't want fuel in them over the winter while they are closed. But as more and more travelers, fill up in the larger communities, those stations remain open all year or at least one or more will be open.

You should be able to fill up at Juncton 37 where the Cassiar takes off of the Alaska Hwy, 13 miles before you get to Watson Lake, then Dease Lake, Stewart, Iskut Village store (owned by the local First Nation group), Bell II which has a busy heli ski season in the winter so is open.

There are not many commercial campgrounds on the Cassiar but those may/probably will be closed by mid to late September. But even if the provincial campgrounds are closed, will they be gated off or not, I don't know. May just mean all services are discontinued, i.e. hosts, firewood sales, trash collection, etc. I like to make about a 3 day trip out of the Cassiar, usually using one of the 3 "lake" provincial parks each night. Those three are some of the most beautiful campgrounds that exists in North America, IMHO. Hopefully you will still be able to use them. You may have to boondock along the way but lots of good spots. One of the Dease Lake service clubs has a nice campground just south of town along side a stream. Summer time they charge about $10cnd a night so it may still be useable also.

The bears will still be there as it is their home. They hang out at the viewing platform due to fish running in the creek, no fish, few bears to be seen. It is almost like the bears work on contracts that are tied to the salmon runs. Not sure if that creek has a late September fish run or not. In Alaska, you will find some streams have a late run of silvers, steelhead trout and the accompanying dolly varden.

One nice thing about the north country is there is always some place to park for the night. In my half century of driving back and forth to/from Alaska, I don't ever remember having to drive all night because I couldn't find a place to park. LOL

Thanks Hawk. We will be coming from the north (Watson Lake). Glad to hear that most everything will be open, but not so good on road conditions. I guess we will just have to take our time. I was hoping we could make the Stewart area on day one and then the rest of the way day two. Is that posiible, or should we plan on taking a couple of days to get to Stewart? I wonder if the bears are still around in Hyder for viewing this late in the year. Any idea?

We will be in Valdez on 9/12 and plan on leaving either 9/15 or 16. Then to Tok, Beaver Creek (or further if Hwy is in better shape between Tok and Beaver Creek), Whitehorse (will spend 2 nights), then Watson Lake. So, it looks like we could begin the Cassier on 9/21.

You didn't say where you were coming from. We just drove the Cassier yesterday and today. We arrived at Stewart, BC around 7 pm. We started in Skayway yesterday morning around 9 a.m. pulling a 40 foot 5th wheel and F450. We started the Cassier right near Watson Lake. The highway is in rough condition with a lot of frost heaves. About 20 miles shy of Boya Lake, the road smoothes out some. We stopped at Boya Lake park for the night. The camping was great with a lake view out the windows. Don't forget you lose an hour with the time change. You can use your generator until 7 pm, but can start again at 8 am. The road was fair down to Jade City. Stop there for free coffee and bathroom stop. Shopping prices are a little high for me. From there to Deese lake, the roads are on and off with heaves, but passable. We were able to maintain 45 to 55 mph through most of it. When the road goes smooth, it becomes striped, about 200 miles from Stewart. Before that the road has narrow shoulders in places and no center stripe. I wouldn't drive this road at night. The road is doable, but take you time. There are few gravel patches, but not many. The power company is putting up high tension wires about a 100 miles north of Stewart. This will slow you down for a little while. It looked like every thing will be open. About midway, Deese lake store looks permanently open, and Stewart has fuel. Good Luck