NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 639

ation is King Gething Campground, on the south end of town, which has flush toilets,
coin-operated showers, and plenty of firewood. Alwin Holland Park, southeast of town, is
more primitive (pit toilets) but is off the main highway and has some nice hiking trails. The
third, Dinosaur Lake Campground, seven kilometers (4.3 miles) southeast, has pit toilets,
firewood, and good fishing and swimming.
Alaska Highway
When the Japanese threatened invasion of Canada and the United States during World War
II, the Alaska Highway was quickly built to link Alaska with the Lower 48. It was the
longest military road ever constructed in North America—an unsurpassed road-construc-
tion feat stretching 2,288 kilometers (1,422 miles) between Dawson Creek and Delta Junc-
tion, Alaska.
Construction began March 9, 1942, and was completed, incredibly, on November 20
that same year. In less than nine months troops had bulldozed a rough trail snaking like
a crooked finger through almost impenetrable muskeg and forest, making literally hun-
dreds of detours around obstacles and constructing 133 bridges. At a cost of more than
$140 million, the highway was the major contributing factor to the growth of northern Brit-
ish Columbia in the 1940s. At the height of construction, the region's population boomed.
Dawson Creek's population alone rose from 600 to over 10,000, and Whitehorse replaced
Dawson City as a more convenient capital of the Yukon.
Driving the highway was notoriously difficult in its earliest days. Highway travelers re-
turned with tales of endless mud holes and dust, washed-out bridges, flat tires, broken wind-
shields and smashed headlights, wildlife in the road, mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds,
and sparse facilities. But they also sported “I drove the Alaska Highway” bumper stickers
as though they'd won a prize. Nowadays the route doesn't merit quite the bravado—it's
paved most of the way, has roadside lodges fairly frequently, and can easily be driven in
three days, or two at a pinch. What hasn't changed is the scenery. You'll still see kilometer
after kilometer of unspoiled wilderness, including boreal forests of spruce and aspen, the
majestic, snow-dusted peaks of the northern Canadian Rockies, and gorgeous rivers and
streams (and you can still buy the stickers).