Alaska Bound...sort of. Any info on the Cassiar Hwy.

MortyandDottie

Partially inspired by @Vikings trip, our trip this summer for 11 days is almost finalized. 

I am looking for feedback from anyone who has experiences traveling the Cassiar Hwy?  I have read a number of posts as well as other publications such as the Milepost and other books  that discuss the Alaskan Hwy. and I am not to concerned about it. 

However, since it is a circular route once we hit Watson Lake in the Yukon, it'll be the point of no return as we head south back to WA via the Cassiar. 

Start date and finish date are firm but what ever happens in between is a bit flexible.  As outlined below average travel day is 263 miles.  We figure that should give us plenty of time each day to meander and enjoy the drive. 

3 - days  - Poulsbo, WA up through B.C to Dawsons Creek and the start of the Alaskan Hwy

2 - days - Dawsons Creek to Watson Lake in the Yukon territory

2 - days - Watson Lake to Hyder AK ( this is the "sort of" part   )

3 - days - Hyder AK to Whistler, BC

1 -day Whistler  BC back to Poulsbo, WA

2018 is going to be a busy year:

• A long weekend in Porteau Cove, BC in April

• The East Meets West get together in May in Wenatachee

• Alaska Bound in July

• Fall Jam 2018 in Port Townsend in September
  

Happy Travels everyone!

jkjenn

Sounds awesome I need to plan a trip to Alaska.

Vikings

Cassiar Highway is fine...not as many things to see as on Al-Can but enjoyable.  Bell 2 is a nice place to stay.  Homing Beacon came on strong when we got into BC southbound on Cassiar so perhaps we did not focus on it's attractions as much as we could have.   Northern portion narrow.  Somebody said Stewart and Hyder are great sidetrips..but like I said, our homing beacon on! 
We chose Cassair to avoid backtracking and it worked out really well.  We only duplicated about 2 or 3 hundred miles of our route, out of almost 7000 miles. 
Have fun.     

MortyandDottie

@vikings thanks for the feedback. 

2Cougs

@MortyandDottie- glad we get to see you BEFORE Alaska (East meets West)  AND AFTER (Fall J@m)

Cordillera

I just joined this forum and live in Smithers bc and I travel the Cassiar a couple times every year.  In my opinion it’s slightly more scenic than the Alaska highway.  Definitely more remote.  If you drive it there are a few paid campgrounds and lots of places to just pull over. The two parks at kinaskan and Boya lake are fabulous.  If you are adventurous go to telegraph creek.  The road is a narrow dirt secondary road that goes into a wild lower canyon of the Stikine river.  It has very steep sections (up to twenty percent) so most people would not take a trailer but if you are confident in your rig and driving skills it’s no problem.  A side trip to Hyder is also amazing for scenery and at the right time of year bear viewing.  

Have fun in northern BC!

2Cougs

@Cordillera - Welcome to the forum!  You have found a place with a wealth of great information and wonderfully friendly folks.  If your travels take you south to Washington, be sure to let us know... Would love to meet you!

dragonsdofly

@Cordillera, welcome to the forum. Thanks for your input, and do you own or wish to own a t@b? Tell us a bit more about yourself. Welcome, again.

Ratkity

Welcome!!!

MortyandDottie

@cordillera welcome and thank for the information.  We are looking forward to our trip. 

Cordillera

Thanks.  Yes I am looking at a tab 400 for future retirement travelling.  This forum is very helpful to understand their functions.  I do a lot of tent camping in the remote areas of BC and the Yukon so we want something durable enough for that as well as trips to the US southwest.  Thanks for the encouragement!

MortyandDottie

@Cordillera any suggestions for RV camping in Fort Nelson BC?  We are thinking of staying at Triple G Hideaway.  Does not seem like there is much else around there. 

Cordillera

Fort Nelson is not great so I’ve never stayed there.  If you can, keep driving to the provincial park at testa river. The scenery about an hour last fort Nelson completely changes as you enter the Rockies.  The provincial parks are always in the prettiest places in northern bc.  They are usually simpler without electricity though.   

Fergie

Here is the latest update from "North to Alaska". It features events and activities in and on the way to Alaska. Possibly some things you may find interesting.

Fergie

https://mailchi.mp/northtoalaska/aoccjh1gif-530974?e=83fffd231b

Fergie

I should have mentioned that there is a large sprawling history museum on the south side of the highway at Fort Nelson. We stayed at the adjacent RV park and spent an extra day as was our custom exploring the area on our move last summer. The museum is fascinating, but suffers from lack of organization. It's worth spending an hour or two exploring it if you have the time. The RV park was fine for our little T@B, but a little cramped for large rigs. It had a restaurant and a gift shop. It wasn't the best RV Park on our trip, but it wasn't the worst. There was an caravan of restored military vehicles from the US and Canada celebrating the 75th anniversary of the construction of the Alaska Highway camped there when we were. Had some fascinating conversations with some of the guys. They also were on their way to Alaska for some celebration events.

Fergie

Fergie

More info on the Fort Nelson History Museum. Below are a few of the pictures we took while there last summer. As you can see there is a ton of stuff on display both inside and outside. Most of the items are based on the local history of the region, especially during the ALCON construction. These pictures show only a part of the whole site which I estimate at about 10 to 15 acres. As I said before, it could use lots of organization, but it still is facinating.

Fergie

MortyandDottie

Thanks for the information @fergie.  We decided to visit Ft. Nelson but we will stay in Tetsa River that evening on our trip.  We are very excited and looking forward to the adventure and journey.  Any additional tips you have are welcome. 

Fergie

To: MortyandDottie

We are both history buffs, but sort of planned out trip as we went, however one of our practices we agreed upon from the start was to stay two nights at every campground leaving us time to explore the area, visit museums and do some walking around because of my aging back after driving for 5 to 8 hours between stops.

Not sure of your route afterwards, but Watson Lake certainly is worth a stop. Of course there is the famous mile post park that is now up to around 90,000 signs! There is a museum there on the premises also. It's right off the highway and you can't miss it. The RV park adjacent is just a huge gravel parking lot, but we just stayed there to sleep anyway and did most of our eating out.

Since it was the 75th anniversary of the building of the ALCON, we read up on the history on our way up to Canada. The route selection was based on the chain of airfields built to deliver lend-lease bombers to Russia (then one of our allies in WWII) across Canada and Alaska. One of the largest and best equipped was the one at Watson Lake. You don't hear much about it in the tourist material. It is a short 8 to 10 mile drive from the town to the actual Watson Lake where the airfield is located and is really worth the trip. The terminal, including the control tower, was built as a log structure and remains so today as you can see from the picture. It has been totally renovated and modernized inside. The huge runway now just serves a local commuter airline, but the really interesting feature of the interior is the wonderful photo display with great information panels on every wall of the interior describing the history of the airfield during WWII. I have shown one of the hundreds of examples they have on display below.

If you like WWII history, this should be a stop for you. The AlCON is alive with history. For what probably for most of us is a once in a lifetime trip, it is worth the effort to plan and experience that history.

Good Luck and Good Planning!

Fergie