In the spring of 1942, soon after Pearl Harbor, the United States Army decided it needed a land route to Alaska, and a railhead in the northern Peace River country of British Columbia became Mile 0. Dawson Creek, a small farming town of grain elevators and a few thousand people, suddenly filled with soldiers, engineers and trucks. About eleven thousand American troops, plus thousands of civilian workers, pushed a pioneer road north through bog, forest and mountains and finished it in around eight months, a feat that still seems unlikely. A post in the middle of town marks the beginning, and everyone takes the photo.
The highway has been rebuilt and straightened many times, and now it is a modern paved road, with distances posted in kilometres, but the old mile markers still survive in the way people give directions. From here to Muncho Lake it is roughly 460 miles. The first part crosses open prairie and canola fields around Fort St. John, about fifty miles north, then dips into the Peace River valley, and later climbs into the boreal forest, where spruce and aspen go on for hours. Beyond Fort Nelson, the Northern Rockies rise, and the road begins to wind alongside rivers, with wildlife on the verge: bison, black bears, caribou and the beautiful stone sheep that lick minerals from the road.
Fuel is the thing to plan. Services are spaced widely, sometimes a hundred miles or more apart in the north, and some small lodges close for the winter, so top up whenever you pass a station, and carry a spare tyre, tools and basic supplies. The road is mostly well surfaced, but frost heaves, gravel patches and sections of construction appear every summer, and trucks throw stones. Weather can change quickly, with cold rain even in July, and mosquitoes are persistent. Be ready for long days, since the sun barely sets in June.
Dawson Creek has just under eleven thousand people, with fuel, motels, a museum in the old railway station and plenty of diners. The best riding season runs from late May to mid September, and it is wise to start early on the first day, since the road ahead is long and the scenery changes constantly.