NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 642

Although official signage along the Alaska Highway is in kilometers, many services are
marked in miles, a legacy of imperial measurement. This only becomes confusing when
you consider that highway improvements have shortened the original route. For example,
Liard River Hot Springs is still marked as Mile 496, though it's now only 462 miles (754
kilometers) from Dawson Creek.
DAWSON CREEK
Although Dawson Creek (pop. 11,500) marks the southern end of the Alaska Highway, it's
still a long way north—over 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) north of Vancouver. While the
city thrives on its historic location at Mile Zero, it's also an important service center whose
economy is more closely tied to neighboring Alberta, a few kilometers to the east, than to
British Columbia.
Sights
Upon entering town, make Northern Alberta Railway (NAR) Park on the corner of
Highway 2 and the Alaska Highway your first stop. Here you'll find Dawson Creek
Visitor Centre, an art gallery, and Dawson Creek Station Museum (900 Alaska Ave.,
250/782-9595, 8am-7pm daily May-early Sept., 10am-noon and 1pm-5pm Tues.-Sat. the
rest of the year, adult $5). This marvelous and curious museum, housed in the original
1931 Northern Alberta Railway station, offers exhibits on a wide variety of topics, includ-
ing construction of the Alaska Highway, the area's railroad history, pioneer life, and local
flora and fauna. In the annex of the towering grain elevator adjacent to the museum is the
Dawson Creek Art Gallery (816 Alaska Ave., 250/782-2601, 9am-5pm daily June-Aug.,
10am-5pm Tues.-Fri. the rest of the year, free). The elevator itself is fascinating. It was
saved from demolition and redesigned with a spiral walkway around the interior walls to
make the most of the building's height.
In front of NAR Park is the Mile Zero Cairn, the Alaska Highway's official starting
point. (The original marker was mowed down by a car in the 1940s). Despite the cairn's
official status, the Mile Zero signpost in the center of 102nd Avenue at 10th Street is more
often photographed. It reads “You are now entering the world famous Alaska Highway” and
notes the following distances: Fort St. John, 49 miles; Fort Nelson, 300 miles; Whitehorse,
918 miles; and Fairbanks, 1,523 miles.