Cassiar Highway

[djackman]

Getting ready to leave Haines, AK and start heading home to Massachusetts:(

We are going to head down through BC on the Cassiar, since we came up the Alaska Hwy. Someone told us that they have driven it and that it extremely narrow (we knew that) and that when it rains, it is a mud pit where they are doing construction, and that they are doing construction all the time.

Has any one driven the Cassiar recently? Any problems?

Thanks in advance.

[junmy3]

We did it last year in August and had a great time. We stayed for free one night at the Jade store and then went on to Hyder. Don't remember any more problems on that road than elsewhere going to Alaska. We are glad we went, you probably will be also.

[quoyfab]

By ALL means do the Cassiar and visit Hyder. The boardwalk along the river provides great bear viewing. A few miles above the viewing walkway is Salmon Glacier, which you look down at. Both are quite unique, and you'll have the opportunity to pass through Banff, which is equally picturesque to much of Alaska. I also enjoyed my stop in Houston, ?BC?

As for road conditions along the Cassiar, you shouldn't find it any rougher than the worst you've been on during your trip. You may want to venture into Watson Lake to fill fuel tanks. The station at the Junction tends to be considerably higher per liter. That'll also give you another chance to stop at the signpost forest.

Have fun !!

[RangerJay]

To miss the Cassiar is to miss a lot.


Jay

[jessjerr1831]

It really was one of our favorite drives when we did it. We went southbound, camped at three P.P.s. Went to Stewart-Hyder. Had a great time. Go and enjoy it.

[lucy6194]

make sure to go to Hyder bear viewing is great

[Islandman]

Just came north on the Cassier two days agi from Terrace to the Alaska Highway intersection just west of Watson Lake. There are some poor stretches near Dease Lake but for the most part, road is in good shape. When you see the little red markers slow down 'cause there may be a dip or rough spot due the heavy rain activity they had last month. Any bad spots are well marked and the little bit of construction work that you will encounter is no big deal, flaggers are courteous and delay time is minimal. An ideal campground is at Boya Lake near the north end, it's a BC Provincial Park and is a great place to stay. Gas up before you go south, gas is $1.549/L at the north intersection and $1.599/L in Dease. Not much traffic and you will see lots of pretty country and some interesting vegetative recovery where recent wildland fires burned lots of acreage. Take the road and also include Stewart BC in your travels, the drive out there is beautiful!

[lizzie]

I hate to say this, but did you do a search? There is a sticky on the Alaska forum On the Road with Road Call Alaska, of folks who are there right now. We drove the Cassiar in early June and had no problems at all. Wish we had come back that way! lizzie

[sue_t]

Don't ever recall a mudpit on the Cassiar, even when wet. A few years ago, one of the detours was dirt road but it wasn't muddy despite recent rains.

It is our favourite route north/south.

http://suethomas.ca/CassiarHwy.html

[AKsilvereagle]

During the three times I driven the Cassiar Hwy. I never encountered any mud pit where they are doing construction even while it rained hard thru those areas but I am stating short of not potentially encountering a situation like that cuz sometimes you never know.

The northern half does not have any lane markers or center line and can get a little bumpy like frost heave surfaces which I drive pretty slow along these stretches, and the southern half of the highway has lane markers and is usually smooth surfacing roadway......as noted the entire highway has no wide shoulder at all.

Travelling in the far north can be a crapshoot as far as encountering any of the elements related to road surfaces, construction zones and weather as the Cassiar is no different, I would just check up on the Drive BC website for the latest info once you get there and ask the travelers upon arrival at the Junction 37 station (they are open most of the time as every once in a while they do close with no warning).

I plan on travelling on the Cassiar hopefully next month if I can get approved time off work rather than September in which it is like pulling teeth to get granted time off even then with my line of work.

The only thing that will stop me from travelling the Cassiar Hwy. by the time I do is if there is actually some form of road closure, in most cases you should be fine.

Just don't go off the Cassiar Hwy. like this buried backhoe did just south of the Stinkine River (at the top of the grade) or otherwise you will end up in a dry mudpit like this rig and be completely stuck :

[What_Next]

Probably shouldn't answer I haven't driven it this year. But several of my friends have and all said it was a favorite. Make sure you take the side trip to Stuart and Hyder. If you have contruction and rain you will have mud ,, but you know that by now. I have always found it to be a nice ride.