Why this ride
410 km from Dawson City to the finish, about 9 h 49 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dempster Highway · part 1
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 410 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 49
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Dawson City
Dawson City was built on a gamble. In August 1896, gold was found in a creek flowing into the Klondike river, and within two years, more than thirty thousand people had come to the swampy flat at the river's mouth, having crossed mountain passes with tons of supplies, floated down the Yukon, and spent everything they had. Most got no gold. A few got rich overnight, and the town rose, with saloons, theatres, hotels and dance halls, to become the largest city north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg.
Read the complete Dawson City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dawson City is where the day begins. Next is Tombstone Territorial Park.
2. Tombstone Territorial Park
Where the Dempster Highway climbs out of the boreal forest and breaks through the Ogilvie Mountains, the landscape changes in a rush. Tombstone Territorial Park lies about seventy kilometres above Dawson City's turn-off and protects a wilderness of jagged granite peaks, glacial valleys and open tundra, with Tombstone Mountain itself standing like a dark fang above the rest. The country belongs to the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation, who have hunted and travelled here for thousands of years, and the park was created with their involvement.
Read the complete Tombstone Territorial Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tombstone Territorial Park comes up about 111 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eagle Plains.
3. Eagle Plains
Eagle Plains is a small dot of civilisation on the Dempster Highway, a gravel road that runs from near Dawson City, in the Yukon, all the way to Inuvik, in the Northwest Territories, over seven hundred kilometres. The road crosses the Arctic Circle about thirty-five kilometres north of here, and at Eagle Plains you stand on a high plateau of tundra and stunted spruce, with the Richardson Mountains on the horizon to the northeast.
Read the complete Eagle Plains 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 410 km.
Leg by leg
Dawson City to Tombstone Territorial Park
Dawson City → Tombstone Territorial Park is 111 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tombstone Territorial Park to Eagle Plains
Tombstone Territorial Park → Eagle Plains is 299 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.