Andrew here! I’m going to try to start posting more detail on some of the amazing places we have visited so others can learn about them (or maybe just to provide some information so that others can learn from our mistakes). Keep an eye out for more destinations in the future.

We survived the fabled Dempster Highway and made it all the way to the Arctic Ocean for a polar bear plunge. Watching the sun set over the Arctic Ocean while the northern lights danced over our heads was unreal.  Meeting some welcoming local residents of Tuk and learning about their lives and history and sharing stories was well worth the long drive.

The Dempster is a dirt and gravel “highway” from Dawson City, Yukon Territories to Inuvik, Northwest Territories with an extension completed in 2018 to reach Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, which sits on the Arctic Ocean. It is 736km/457mi one way with an additional 138km/86mi for the extension to Tuk.

We gave ourselves 6 days for the round-trip journey but I recommend even longer, closer to 7 or 8 days. We had time to quickly explore, but every day we had to do lot of driving and a day or two extra would have been nice. The time of year was also a factor. We went during the middle of September but going in the middle of summer would give more daylight hours.

It was exactly the kind of adventure I was looking for; Sarah was a bit more hesitant. We started the trip after reading and hearing horror stories of blown out tires, broken windshields and treacherously slippery roads. In reality, the worst part for us was the dust that infiltrated every crack and forced itself through the door seals and air conditioning system. We were wiping down surfaces and vacuuming on a daily basis and we cleaned for a full 8 hours once we returned to Whitehorse, washing or wiping down every single item in the van. We escaped without a flat tire, but our windshield did not fare so well.  We have about 9 chips from flying gravel (ranging from tiny dings to a divot the size of a quarter) and will probably have to replace it. A lot of the highway is covered with loose gravel and there is a lot of risk of flying rocks when passing an approaching vehicle.  Most people were very courteous and slowed significantly when approaching another car, but it only takes one or two vehicles without any respect for others to put a lot of rocks into your windshield. One truck pulling an RV put 7 chips in our windshield, as he flew by us at around 60mph/97kmh. 

The highway begins just outside of Dawson, YT and heads north into Tombstone Territorial Park. We were greeted with light snow as we neared our camping spot for the night while peaks around us got a heavier dusting. We spent the first night in Tombstone at a spectacular spot just off the road with views of snow capped mountains and Tombstone mountain itself. We put our heater through its paces, keeping the van at 65F/18C inside with overnight lows hitting 15F/-10C. We noticed a lot of temperature stratification of the air though, with the garage area under the bed getting close to freezing. We improved air circulation with a fan going forward and temperatures throughout the van were much more even.

Our second day, we stopped by the Tombstone Interpretive Center for some info on the area and road conditions. It seemed like there were excellent hiking and backpacking areas available in the park but we just didn’t have time. The first 130km/80mi of the Dempster were fairly easy going with avoidable potholes. 

The plateau before Eagle Plains had some nice views that were worth a stop, but this area had some of the worst roads we encountered on the trip. Tons of pot holes, ruts, and deep gravel slowed down progress significantly. The road was so bad Sarah was afraid if the rest of the road was like this we would do serious damage to the van and we should turn around. I convinced her we should try it. We refilled gas and carried on.

The Richardson Mountains that run along the border between the Yukon and Northwest Territories provided more remarkable scenery and an amazing sunset. Each of the mountain ranges we passed on the road were different and most of the ranges, except for southern ranges in Tombstone, have never been glaciated.

As darkness descended, we arrived at the Peel River crossing, which is a free cable ferry just before Fort McPherson. There are two river ferries (or ice bridges in the winter) to cross to make it up Inuvik. In early winter, when ice forms, and in spring, as the ice is melting, the ferries stop running and the ice bridge is unsafe making travel up the road impossible. Both ferries have issues with rainstorms washing out the access to the road, so at times they may be closed for a few days, requiring some flexibility in plans. After all, the ferry dock is just dirt that has been pushed around by a bulldozer to make a ramp.

We found out the Northwest Territories leaves their campgrounds unlocked over the winter (thanks!) unlike the Yukon, and we stayed at a territorial campground just before Fort McPherson. It seemed that all campgrounds in the northern Yukon and Northwest Territories closed on September 1st, but we had no issues finding spots to dry camp. 

The northern lights were spectacular that night, with half of the sky lit up at times.  We saw the usual greens but also had pink/purple from time to time. They were dancing all over the sky.  So far, we had seen the northern lights pretty much every night for a week and half and this was by far the best display. We stayed outside until 2 am in the cold because we couldn’t tear ourselves away.

We woke up late the next morning after spending half the night staring at the sky. Fort McPherson is a small town that we toured around briefly before filling up gas and departing. Interestingly, they had the lowest gas prices of anywhere on the Dempster and had prices comparable to Whitehorse. If you can make it all the way from Dawson City to Ft McPherson on a tank, go for it. We didn’t find much information online on gas prices, (and I’m sure it changes often) but were more informed for the drive back. 

The drive from Ft McPherson to Inuvik was very dusty, but well maintained and you could easily drive the speed limit of 55mph at most times. However, as we found out, at those speeds, dust came in every crack in our van. We tried to clean it out and our bag of vacuumed dust weighed about 5 lbs. The dust was very dense and stuck to every surface. I’m sure that we will always have a bit of Dempster dust somewhere.

We didn’t spend much time in Inuvik, but it looked like a nice town to spend a night and to explore. We drove around and looked at the town a bit before filling up a small amount of gas (it was the most expensive of all gas stations we had seen so far). Side note: if you want to take the quick and easy option to the end of the Dempster, Inuvik has an airport with flights from Whitehorse.

The new highway from Inuvik to Tuk was smooth at the start but became more difficult driving further on with random pot holes that interrupted the quick driving and made for an inconsistent driving surface. In general, the Northwest Territories had much more gravel on their roads which meant faster driving without concern for potholes, but with the risk of gravel hitting your windshield and massive amounts of dust entering the van.

We finally arrived in Tuk in the afternoon and made our way to a point of land that juts into the Arctic Ocean at the end of town. We had read that it had become a de facto campground for travelers, was officially supported by the town, and had an associated fee with it. We were prepared to pay, but it seems that we hit the town too late in the season and there was no one staffing or collecting a fee.

There was one other RV there but ample spots around as well as space for locals to have picnics and BBQs. Each spot had a fire pit with BBQ grill and picnic table.

The most amazing part of Tuk, was the exceedingly friendly people who inhabit this town.  Until this year, the only access to Tuk was by plane, boat, or ice road in the winter so large scale tourism is relatively new to the area. While we were setting up camp, multiple people from the town came by just to say “hi”, ask where we were from, and why we decided to come to Tuk.  One of them offered to give us a tour of the town.  We jumped at the opportunity and hopped in his truck. We learned about everything from the excellent programs for kids at the community center to the time Metallica came and played a show for Molson beer.

In addition to the tour, we learned a lot about the first nation of Inuvialuit who have inhabited this area for many years and the subsistence life that many here still practice.  Polar bears are a regular occurrence in town and are hunted along with beluga whales, caribou and grizzly bears.  The locals have a very strict hunting and quota system.  Last year, for polar bears, the quota was 34 bears.  When you want to hunt an animal you have to get a tag for that animal, which is counted against the quota, and then you have to immediately leave town.  If successful, you return the tag and the number of remaining tags is reduced.  If you are not successful, you return the tag and it is returned to the pool.  You cannot return to town unless you return the tag and cannot legally hunt without a tag, with severe consequences if you are caught hunting without a tag or returning with animals without tags.  It seems everyone knows everyone in town (900 residents) and they do not have any issues with poaching and breaking the rules.

About halfway through the tour, we stopped at his house as he said he had to grab something. He returned with some freshly frozen caribou meat that he had recently hunted and offered it to us. We got some tips on cooking the meat and were super excited to try caribou.

After the tour, he invited us back to his house to meet his family and have a few beers.  We sampled some of the caribou that his family had for dinner, some local berries that they gathered, and a freshly baked cake.  Sarah immediately became their 2 and a half year old daughter’s new best friend and was engrossed in building some Lego towers with her and watching Dora the Explorer.  Hearing their stories of hunting, brutal winters, and 24 hour darkness for a few weeks in winter were fascinating and we swapped stories about our east coast life prior to starting our trip. When the couple retires, they plan to do some RVing and we hope to show them around our neck of the woods someday.

We spent the next day exploring the town alone and preparing for the inevitable dip into the Arctic Ocean. One of the reasons we chose to do the Dempster Highway was that it is the only highway accessible road in North America that leads to the Arctic Ocean. The Dalton Highway in Alaska leads to Prudhoe Bay, but you are unable to go to the shore or jump in the water unless you pay for a tour due to oil drilling security measures. We got a tip on the best place to wade into the water, which was not where we camped. The ocean around where we camped is not safe for wading or swimming because it can have strong currents and does not have a good ocean floor to wade in.

Sarah, being reasonable, decided to dip her feet in the ocean while I decided that nothing less than a polar bear full plunge would do. The water was frigid and a lot of cursing ensued. I was barely able to run back to the car to warm up after completely submerging myself as my legs didn’t seem to function correctly.

One of the interesting things about the Arctic is how permafrost and ice shapes the land. Pingos are quite common in the area and are large hills with a solid ice core. They can last a thousand years and are usually formed when a lake drains and the remaining water freezes and forces the ground upwards. Occasionally, permafrost cracks and water seeps in and freezes. The frozen water expands these cracks and over years, well defined areas polygonal shapes in the land become visible. We didn’t see either of these phenomena until we were well above the Arctic Circle.

Driving the Dempster was an awesome adventure and I would recommend it to anyone. Be prepared for the worst. Be willing to replace your windshield and have, at minimum, one good spare tire and know how to change it yourself. It may make sense to try to tape the seams of your car to prevent dust from getting in, but you will probably have some cleaning to do once you return to pavement. We also placed window screen material across our front grill to prevent rocks and bugs from hitting our radiator. There was a lot of debris on it by the end of the drive, so it may be a worthwhile addition to your setup for the drive. Be prepared for car trouble and the cold. Take blankets and enough food and water if you get stuck for a day or two.

Gas prices on our trip:

Dawson City, YT (in town): CAD $1.67/liter / USD $4.85/gallon

Start of Dempster Highway: CAD $1.52/liter / USD $4.42/gallon

Eagle Plain, YT: CAD $1.65/liter / USD $4.80/gallon

Fort McPherson, NT: CAD $1.45/liter / USD $4.22/gallon

Inuvik: CAD $1.76/liter / USD $5.12/gallon

Tuk: CAD $1.67/liter / USD $4.85/gallon

For those planning the trip, I’d recommend filling up in Tuk, Fort McPherson and at the start of the Dempster if you can manage those distances.  I’d also check different gas stations, sometimes there would be a 10c difference per liter within town.