This summer’s road trip is 3 months and 25,000 kilometers of northern Canadian goodness. I’ve posted the general plan before, but this time I thought I’d share a list of some of the highlights I hope to see. (in approximately the order I plan to see them)
B1 Wood Buffalo National Park, AB.
The largest park in Canada. Looking forward to seeing the Buffalo and exploring the salt plains.
C1 The road to Wrigley, NWT.
This is about the 250km gravel road that winds along the Mackenzie river, on the edge of the mountains. Out of all the gravel roads I plan to drive on this trip, this one is the least documented online…which excites the explorer in me.
D1 Stone Mountain Provincial Park, BC.
Planning on hiking the Summit Peak trail. Good practice for hiking to the top of a mountain. (I’ll be hiking more in Yukon)
E Salmon Glacier/Stewart, BC.
I’m finally returning to this awesome place!! The Salmon glacier is one of the larger if not the largest that you can directly drive to in North America. The scale of it all is actually beyond comprehension! The mountain road to the view point is fun, and there are further old mining roads for exploration in the area. I hope to spend the night by the glacier…maybe even see some stars!
F The road to Telegraph Creek, BC.
Another place I’m returning to. Only the best public, maintained, gravel road I’ve ever been on. Lots of steep grades and cliff side views, plus a ghost town at the end. Should be interesting as this area had a serious forest fire last summer.
G Carcross/Whitehorse, YUKON!!
I’ll be spending at least a couple weeks here. There are so many sites, roads and hiking trails around Carcross/Whitehorse. Some highlights include some serious mountain 4×4 roads and riding the White Pass Railroad.
H Dawson City.
An old timey gold rush town with tons of character. Also, the Top of the World Highway to the west, a gravel road that follows the tops of the hills instead of the valleys. Glorious views will abound.
I Tombstone Territorial Park.
Everything about this park is epic. Jagged mountain peaks, and open skies. It’s far enough north that there are very few trees. I hope to be here closer to the end of August when fall colors are beginning. (google it. it’s crazy) Yeah, that’s right: A place with no trees has some of the best fall colors imaginable!
J The Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk.
800km of gravel. The Arctic Circle. The Arctic OCEAN! The farthest north you can drive in Canada. Need I say more? Pretty sure this is going to be the highlight of the trip.
A The Silver Trail/Keno City
An old mining area that has some interesting almost abandoned towns, and the potential for some interesting off-roading. At a minimum the drive up Keno Hill will be terrific!
B2 North Canol Road
This road used to follow an old oil pipeline in the 40s. South Canol is more traveled but is still considered rough for an official road. North Canol ends at the NWT border and carries on as a trail beyond. This road isn’t very well documented online, especially in recent years, but it technically is still part of the Yukon highway system. I’ll know more once I talk to some locals. Either way it will be epic, because I don’t actually know what to expect.
C2 Nahanni Range Road
Similar to Canol, this is an official road, but it goes to a mine that has been closed for a while. There are some pictures online of this road and it is spectacular!!!! It winds through some serious mountains. I plan to be here during fall colors as well. I will know more about how passable it is as I get closer as there are very few people posting about this road online.
D2 Kluane National Park
I was here last time I was in Yukon and it’s spectacular. This was where I first fell in love with Yukon. There are a number of off the beaten path roads to drive just outside of the park, and lots of trails to hike. I hope to get a cabin here and relax a bit before coming home…although there’s still tons of exploring to do here as well!
* Mount Logan (the blue star on the map)
The highest mountain in Canada. It is surrounded by a massive icefield, which is actually the largest non-polar icefield in the world! I hope to go on a flightseeing tour in a small plane, land on the ice and go walking in the shadow of Logan!!
Ok…I’m seriously hyped now. Only 2 months until departure!
The Narrow Twisty Road 
Sounds like an ambitious trip but good to have an itinerary to follw …have fun…Steve and Karen
Thanks, Tim,‘tis is so fun for me to follow from my chair!! I grew up in the mountains and valleys of BC, and appreciate seeing the scenery and the blog. God bless, and keep it up, what a lovely thing to do for those of us who can’t travel at all.