Dawson City to Inuvik - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 197

Dempster Hwy to Inuvik
Before leaving Dawson we check in with the Dempster Hwy and Northwest Territories In-
formation Center on Front Street. Over the past several weeks there have been several oc-
casions and locations where the road has been washed out by rain and flash floods. But the
road has been fixed and the weather is holding so off we go.
Construction of the road was inspired by the “Roads to Resources” policy of the Canadian
government in the late 1950s. Unfortunately, initial exploration did not result in the anticip-
ated bonanza so after completing the first 115 km /72 mi road construction was abandoned.
Oil exploration in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea in the late 1970s was more encour-
aging so the highway was completed in 1979.
There is no soft entry onto the Dempster Hwy. It's rough from kilometre one and frankly,
the first 50 kilometers had us musing about turning around - potholed and dead boring with
solid banks of deciduous trees both sides of the road. After that it gets considerably more
interesting as the hills turn into mountains that segue into Tombstone National Park with its
vast valleys sweeping up and into the ragged reaches of a spectacular skyline. We were glad
we stuck with it. It's also worth noting that the rough conditions we encountered could have