Dempster Highway

[pyrosecur]

Hi All!

In the planning stage of a summer roadtrip from Montreal to Alaska.
We will be driving a 32' Class A gas V10 motorhome. Our plan is not to bring the toad as we would only be staying a maximum of 2 or 3 nights in any ome place.

I have been reading about the gravel Dempster Highway from Dawson to Inuvik. It sounds like the type of detour I would like to make, but it also sounds a little rough for our vehicule. If you have made the trip I would like to hear from you to know what to expect and how much time it would take.

Thank you

[Yeti_plus]

Tony, You fill up in Dawson, drive to Eagle Plains, fill up there, and drive to Inuvik. Eagle Plains is the only place with fuel between Dawson and Inuvik.
The road to Tuktoyaktuk is now open so you can drive right up close to the Arctic Ocean.
Brian

[tony_lee]

Thanks Brian - sounds perfectly doable.Good gravel roads are better than bad interstates any day. I carry an unmounted spare strapped between the chassis rails so will just need to buy some extra basic tools so I can change it over if necessary. And research where fuel stops are if any - although it isn't all that long anyway so that obviously isn't an issue.

[Yeti_plus]

tony lee, the Dempster is the road to Inuvik. There are three grader stations along the road, with two graders at each. All six graders are out every day, so we were told and we saw graders all 4 days we were driving on the Dempster.
I remember a little bit of washboard right at the start, for the first 1/4 mile, but then it "smoothed out".
The worst part of the road is actually the paved portion just as you enter Inuvik! Frost heaves and pot holes that would be easy to fix if it were still gravel. The locals laugh at the paved roads, but because it is near the airport, somebody thinks it has to be paved.
Brian

[tony_lee]

Tripalot, et al, it is a given that road conditions can vary from billiard-table-smooth to horrendous within a week or two after the last time the grader went through, but would you say the road conditions for the first 50 or 100km was reasonably indicative of the condition of the rest. We have a 35' class A that has been lots of places where class As weren't meant to go, but it definitely doesn't like lots of potholes or baddish washboard. Minor washboard is OK and we are never in a hurry, but comes a time when the effort of putting all the furniture fixing screws back in before it all falls off the walls makes it not worth the bother. Thought we might venture up part of the way and see how it goes before deciding yes or no. Seen all of Alaska that matters (to us) so happy to take a major detour into a new area.

Obviously there is some confusion about which highway is which and I'm very easy to confuse so the one I'm interested in is to Inuvik

[Yeti_plus]

We drove the Dempster in 2016, in a truck and TC. It was raining on the way North and Dry on the way South. So very muddy north and dusty south. We didn't see any Class A on the road, some short Class C a couple Class B, and several TC. The place we stayed in Inuvik arranged our flight to Tuk, and they also have a van that they pick up people in Dawson, drive them to Inuvik stopping at Eagle Plains( the halfway point) arrange their flight to Tuk and them drive them back south on the Dempster to Dawson. They have an arrangement with one of the campgrounds on the outskirts of Dawson for people to leave their rigs there while on the trip. The owner said most of the clients didn't want to get their coaches dirty. And like others have said the mud sticks like glue. There are 2 ferries that run almost continuously at different points on the highway. I think Tripalot might be thinking of the bridge across the McKenzie on the road to Yellowknife, it opened in 2012.
The Dempster was the highlight of our trip, and neither words nor pictures truly capsture the essence of the area.

[lizzie]

I agree with Tripalot but wonder about the comment about bridges across the rivers. We made the trip in 2016 and did not see any signs of bridges being built.This is a beautiful trip and was, for us, a peak experience. We also took our time. We flew to Tuk and came back to Inuvik by boat. lizzie

[Tripalot]

Great trip and well worth doing in our opinion. We took about 4 days to go each direction and spent about 3 days in Inuvik. We made lots of stops along the way and took our time. You will encounter all kinds of conditions as mentioned above as well as the possibility of forest fires and resulting smoke.

There is (assume it is still there) a v.g. car wash in town and it is recommended you clean your RV when you arrive. Do it again when you reach Dawson.

There are now bridges across the rivers and it is no longer necessary to take a ferry. The road from Inuvik to Tuk will also be open this summer. That would be another adventure and one that not many have done yet. Flying was the only way to get to the Arctic Ocean, but now you can drive! You will see every type of RV on the road. Truck campers are the most suited though.

Note that Pigman1 above is talking about the Alaska road to the Arctic, not the Dempster highway in Yukon.

[cewillis]

One of the better gravel roads I've driven, most of the way, in Sept 2013. But the stuff (calcium chloride?) they use to control dust is nearly impossible to wash off a vehicle. It can be driven both ways in ~4 days, or even less if you're not going to stop anywhere, and if the ferries are running on time.

[harley4275]

Di the whole thing 2 summers ago and only had one section that was not smooth,apparently grader was broken. dusty on the way up and rain on the way back. There are open rv wash bays in Dawson City. If I did it again I would only go to the Arctic Circle and back. Nice boondocking spot at mile 131 ,if I remember correctly.

[pigman1]

Travel on any of the unpaved roads in the north country is a crud shoot. It all depends on when the last pass from a road grader occurred. Recently, no problem, not so recently, the washboard can shake your teeth out, regardless of your speed. If they've just had rain, you deal with a LOT of MUD. If no rain, you choke on dust.

All that said, a great adventure. If you don't want to deal with road and rig conditions, check out van tours. We flew to Prudhoe Bay, spent two nights there and toured the oil fields to the Arctic Ocean shore and they drove us down in a van (2 days with a stop overnight at Coldfoot). Toured a lot of interesting places and did not have to deal with reservations, road conditions or damage to our rig, contents, or toad.

[SidecarFlip]

You'll get a sandblast job on your lower body and chassis. Windshields don't fare well either.