Fort Nelson is a northern town at the heart of the boreal forest, sitting at Mile 300 of the Alaska Highway, nearly 450 kilometres from the start of the highway at Dawson Creek. It lies on the Fort Nelson River, in a broad flat valley, with the first ranges of the Northern Rockies visible on the western horizon, and it marks the point where the road leaves the plains and begins to climb into mountains. For many riders, it is the first proper stop on the way north, and it feels like the edge of somewhere.
The town's history goes back to the fur trade. A trading post was established nearby in the early nineteenth century and rebuilt several times, and the Dene and Cree people of the region have lived here for much longer. The building of the Alaska Highway in 1942 brought thousands of American soldiers and a new airfield, and the town grew up around the road. A heritage museum on the highway tells the story, with vehicles, photographs and equipment from the construction years, and is worth an hour.
More recently, natural gas has driven the economy, and the surrounding region has some of the largest shale gas reserves in Canada, so pipeline trucks and work camps are a common sight. The forest around the town is mostly spruce, aspen and muskeg, flat and wet, and in summer the air is alive with mosquitoes and the light lasts late into the evening. Bears, moose and wood bison are regular visitors to the roadside, and the bison herds in the area are one of the largest free-roaming groups in the country.
Riding north from here, the highway enters the real wilderness, with services spaced far apart, sometimes two hundred kilometres between fuel stops, so fill up here. Fort Nelson has some four and a half thousand people, with stations, motels, restaurants and a grocery, and it is the last major supply point before Muncho Lake. The road ahead has stretches of frost heaves, loose gravel and construction, and the weather can change quickly, with rain and cold even in summer. Carry spare layers, a tyre repair kit and some food. Evenings are long and cool, and a stroll along the river at dusk is a good way to settle into the trip.