Alaska Highway: Fort Nelson to Watson Lake

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fort Nelson

   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.

   Read the complete Fort Nelson write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fort Nelson is where the day begins. Next is Muncho Lake.

2. 2. Muncho Lake

   Muncho Lake is one of those places that stops conversation. Set in a deep valley of the Northern Rockies in northern British Columbia, the lake is about twelve kilometres long and a startling jade-green, a colour that comes from copper oxide minerals washing in from the surrounding rocks. The Alaska Highway runs along its eastern shore, squeezed between water and steep rock walls, and in some places the road hangs just above the lake with the cliff right at your elbow.

   Read the complete Muncho Lake write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Muncho Lake comes up about 241 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watson Lake.

3. 3. Watson Lake

   Watson Lake is a small town in the southern Yukon, at the junction of the Alaska Highway and the road to the Cassiar country, and it is famous for one very odd thing: a forest of signs. In 1942, during the building of the highway, a homesick American soldier named Carl Lindley put up a sign pointing to his home town in Illinois, and others followed. Today there are more than a hundred thousand signs, licence plates and street signs from all over the world, nailed to posts in a field beside the road. People still bring their own, and a visitor centre helps you find a place to hang it.

   Read the complete Watson Lake write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 515 km.