We left our quiet little spot on Gravel Lake and continued on Yukon 2 to Carmacks and then got on the Robert Campbell Highway towards Ross River. The boondocking spots consisted of big gravel lots with no views so we opted for Drury Creek Campground on Little Salmon Lake. We continue to use the provincial parks because they are so inexpensive and so nice. This one had potable water, recycling, garbage cans and free wood.
We continued on and took a quick side trip up to Faro. Faro is a small little town with not much to offer. It was a gorgeous day so we did a quick hike to Odegaard Falls.
After that, we decided to enjoy the afternoon by the river and stayed at another great campground on the Lapie River.
The next day we headed up to Ross River. We fueled up and were ready to tackle the North Canol Road. Canol Road was part of the Canol Project that was built to construct a pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, to Whitehorse, Yukon, during WWII. It was built to ensure a supply of oil for defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. It was completed in two years at great cost and was abandoned less than a year later. The pipeline no longer exists, but the 279 mile long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during the summer.
The Canol Project was abandoned in 1946-1947. The southernmost 150 miles was reopened in 1958 to connect Ross River, Yukon with the Alaska Highway.The 130 miles from Ross River to the NWT border was reopened in 1972.
There is a short ferry crossing over the Pelly River and then we were on our way. The road would soon be a terrible pot-holed rough ride. We averaged about 30 kph the entire trip. There were times when the road was narrow, wet and muddy. We crossed a couple bridges and were surprised when we came up behind 2 semis. One was carrying what looked to be a metal office building, the other had retaining wall blocks. They got over when they could to let us pass but we were shocked at how fast they were running with the large loads they had.
You can drive all the way to the Northwest Territory border but after that the road becomes almost impassable due to bridges being out. We did not think we had the fuel capacity to get that far. We decided to drive as far as the Army truck graveyard before turning back. It was fun walking around this now protected area checking out all the cool old trucks. The views from here were pretty spectacular and it was a beautiful night! We drove back about 30 km and found a little spot to camp.
The next day we made the long trek back. We made a little better time but were a little nervous about our fuel. We were carrying 10 gallons in our jerry cans but we had not been getting great fuel mileage. Craig waited for the low fuel light to come on and we decided to just wait it out. We kept driving and the truck beeped at us about 15 times. We had always thought we had a 38 gallon tank but we didn’t really know. We made it to the ferry and back to the gas station without having to use our reserve fuel. We made it an additional 45 miles after our low fuel light went on. He put 37 gallons into our 38 gallon tank! It’s good to know but we won’t make that a habit.
We continued on South Canol Road which stretches 143 miles from Ross River to Johnsons Crossing. Right away it was more scenic than the north and we were happy to find an awesome boondock spot right on the Lapie River.
South Canol follows ridges and provides awesome scenic views. The road was in better condition than North Canol although it still had some huge pot-holes.
We finished the road and were happy to pull into Johnsons Crossing Lodge. We paid $25 CAD for a dry campsite. This was a decent little place and they had a lot to offer. We took hot showers, did laundry and filled up on water. We didn’t buy anything from the cafe or store but apparently they are known for their cinnamon rolls.
We headed into Whitehorse the next day. We weren’t going to go into town but decided we could use some supplies. We had picked up a few things from the store in Faro but they didn’t have everything we needed. We stocked up on groceries and had a beer and lunch at Woodcutter’s Blanket – Bar & Brewery. On our way out of town, we stopped in at Winterlong Brewing. We have been drinking their beer a lot since being in Yukon and it was cool to go to the brewery and try some of the other beers they have.
We continued south on the Klondike Highway and found an uneventful spot to camp for the night. The next day we stopped in to check out the small town of Carcross. This is where the White Pass Scenic railroad trip from Skagway ends. We arrived right as they were dropping off a trainload of people. We ducked into the Historic Caribou hotel for a beer to wait out the crowds. The bartender gave us a little history of the hotel and the area. It’s a neat little town and we were glad we took the time to check it out.
The drive from Carcross to Skagway was absolutely gorgeous! One of our favorite scenic drives yet. We were so happy to have a sunny clear day for this drive.
We had to wait a few minutes at the border crossing and the Agriculture police took our green pepper. Everything else we had was just fine so it was kind of weird. I think they play veggie bingo and he needed a pepper to complete it! Our friend, Paulo, who crossed after we did, told us that they took his US grown tomatoes but not his pepper. Theory confirmed! Ha! Ha!
We drove into Skagway and found it to be a cute charming place. We didn’t stay long because we knew we’d be back another day to devote to exploring town. We headed up toward Dyea and found a great spot to boondock right on the Taiya River. It rained off and on all day Sunday so we just hung out in camp.
We headed into town on Monday and were met with sunshine! We thought were were going to have 4 days of rain while in Skagway but it cleared up and we had a great time. We had a yummy drink at Skagway Spirits and excellent beers at Skagway Brewing. We meandered in and out of the stores and found a couple souveniers. We had to have lunch at the famous Red Onion Saloon. It was built in 1887 during the height of the Gold Rush and operated as one of the finest Bordellos in town. The staff were fun and friendly and the pizza was awesome!
We headed back out to the Taiya River outside of Dyea and found what we think was a better boondock spot. This spot was down river from where they launched rafts for tours and we waved as they floated on by. More rain was on the way so we hunkered down in camp for a day. Our friend, Paulo, joined us for the night and we sat under the awning catching up on our adventures as it rained.
Wednesday we headed back into town and hiked Lower Dewey Trail. It was a great hike and had cool views of town from above. The lake was beautiful and it was a great day to walk around it.
After our hike, we took showers at the Harbour Master then made our way to historic Dyea before heading back to our campsite. You can drive out to the Dyea Flats, which is a tidal plain and the site of long docks and crowds of ships disembarking gold-seekers back in 1898. We walked around the ghost town that is all but reclaimed by the forest and then made our way back to camp and hung out with Paulo again.
Thursday we were packing up when a man walked up and asked if we needed to leave soon. He said a helicopter would be coming to pick up supplies from the gravel lot behind us and they didn’t want us leaving while that was happening. We told him we would stay so we could watch. It was pretty cool to see the helicoptor with a long line arrive, hook up the supplies and take off to deliver them somewhere on the Chilkoot trail that has been impassable since 2022 due to flooding.
After that we headed back into town to grab supplies and fuel up. We met Paulo at Skagway Brewing and had lunch, beers and chatted with a couple gentleman from Iowa/Arizona that were on a cruise. It was a great time and a fun way to spend our last day. We really enjoyed our time in Skagway and would recommend visiting the small town if you get a chance.
We had checked out a nice little place to boondock on our way down to Skagway so we headed to that spot and were happy to see it was still unoccupied. We had a gorgeous view overlooking the Watson River.
We took a nice little hike down to the river and then along the now defunct railroad tracks. We were happy with another day of sunshine! We are slowly moving south and have a few side trips planned.
Off to Atlin…