Haines to Whitehorse – This is a drive worthy of using a trips contingency day to wait for clear weather, if needed. The drive at first goes along the river and up the small mountain to the scenic valleys as you head towards Haines Junction, are one of the nicest views of Alaska Journey. Some very slight frost heaves in places as you drive along the river, but generally the road is good, becoming one of the newest and best condition road stretches we’ve traveled, as you get up towards Kathleen Lake and on into Haines Junction. But no worries, the stretch from Haines Junction to Whitehorse gets you back into the ALCAN groove, with normal rough areas as well as a few with Follow Me Pilot escorts thru construction repairs.
Fuel Considerations – Top off in Haines, as it will be less than in Haines Junction or Whitehorse.
We stayed in High Country RV of Whitehorse coming North and decided to stay again going South. We like the back in spots along the back of the park, and requested this when we made reservations. New owners of the park within the last 6 weeks, and they did not note this request, even after telling me no problem. They only had ‘pull thru’s’ when we got to the park, some of which would have been OK. But most are tight, and get even tighter with the tow or toads parked around the sites. Our spot was uneven, and we had ‘fun’ getting out and going the day we left. Hope the park continues well under the new owners, and again, for larger rigs, suggest the back in spaces at the back of the park.
White Horse to Junction 37 – (Or if coming off the Skagway ferry coming over from Johnson Crossing). ALCAN roadway is generally good on this leg of the trip. A few areas of slowing down for rough roads/frost heaves, and one or two small gravel sections too. Keep your eyes open, as always, for wildlife. We saw a young grizzly, and had two good size moose standing on the ALCAN staring at us as we got South of Teslin Lake.
We stayed in Yukon Big Creek Provincial Park, about 20 minutes North of Junction 37. This campground is small in size, but with several sites large enough for big rigs and not needing to unhook. (For those of you who are tasty treats for the blood sucking bugs - be prepared to protect yourselves well. I had on my non deet protection, but probably should have gone to the100% deet level.) We like Big Creek campground, and the noise of the creek by our site, covered any of the road noise from the ALCAN, and the bigger rigs hitting the metal bridge just outside the park’s entrance. As the Church’s book say, this is a good spot for those going to or from Cassiar 37. If staying, sites 2 and 3 are parallel to the good size, well Big Creek that runs thru. No unhook required, and several other sites are non-hook too.
Junction 37 to Dease Lake area – The moment you turn off ALCAN to Cassiar’s 37, you get a good taste of what is ahead. Narrow and rough. It does open up some as you get a bit South, with a few sections of good wide highway. Lots of pot holes, broken pavement sections, and frost heaves as you take this leg. No middle line continues to be the norm.
Lots of wildlife, we saw one grizzly and four black bears within 90 mins. And, we had some great views of the forest and mountains stretches ahead.
We stayed in Boya Lake British Columbia Provincial Campground. There is a small loop to the right when you come in, that takes you down by a boat dock and day picnic area, with I think 6 sites along this loop, a few on the water. This loop is not very good for large rigs, we were lucky a person that had parked their van by the picnic area was nice enough to move it so we could make the curve around them. All but one of the sites are smaller in size, with two being best for small rigs only. Space 5, if you came down the wrong way on the one way loop, could hold a probably up to a 36-38’ rig.
The loop to the left as you come into the campground has many more spaces, several along the water front. We found space 15 (taken) to be the best site for big rigs and lake view combo, but we’re very happy with site 16, as it had a good view, with partial blocking from some trees. These trees did protect us some from the wind that picked up a few times in the afternoon. Other pull in or back in sites available along the water front, with 3 or 4 along the turnaround loop at the end of the road.
If you don’t find a site along the lake, then the upper leg of the section has several other sites to choose from. Don’t know the site number, but as you take the turn up to above campground, the first site to the right as you go up has a good lake view, and looked like it would handle larger rigs OK.
The first day we were here, some good winds came up in the afternoon, so secure your awnings well, and chairs.
Two nice little trails here for hiking, and a few canoes and kayaks available for renting. The hike and the canoes can get you around to a finger lake to see a nice size beaver damn. From the canoe, we passed 3 beaver homes of various sizes, from the trail, you’ll see the largest of these.
We give Boya Lake an enthusiastic ‘2 Thumbs-UP!’
Note: We like both the Yukon and British Columbia Provincial Campgrounds for economic stopovers. We’ve noted that BC Campgrounds are very well maintained. The sites are raked, and fire pits are emptied. The wood provided at a reasonable price and is usually has a mix of splits in them. They drive by with a truck in the evening while checking the sites, and will bring it to you. But if you want some before then, some BC Campgrounds will leave them out on the honor system.
Boya to Dease – Again, a clean your windshield day for scenery kind of drive. A nice combination of good highway, mixed with more construction and frost heaved pot holed sections too. Coming down the small mountain as you start seeing Dease Lake, you will find some narrow dirt/gravel stretches.
We topped off fuel at the Petro Station in Dease Lake, and picked up some groceries in this combo store/food place/fuel stop. It was very busy when we were filling up. While fuel is not cheap, it is a better price then others as you head South towards Stewart/Hyder area, so the more you have in your tanks the better.
We headed a bit South of Dease Lake, and deciding to stay in Mountain Shadow RV Park. Just a real neat place, with a nice little hike to the lake. The owners of over 20 years, are just the nicest people and take good care of the park. We decided to unhook, and back into one of the sites (#17, as it is at the bottom of the back in row, and you have a nice open view.) As these sites had the view to the West we wanted. If any of you end up staying here, please say Hi to Steve and Anne from Smitty (You can describe me as the gent that likes to talk too much!) Go figure, I’m so ‘crisp’ on my posts… Oh yes, in case it was not clear, we recommend Mountain Shadow RV.
Best to all, be safe, have fun,
Smitty
