Dalton Highway – Day 1

The Dalton Highway is a 414 mile gravel and dirt road in Alaska from Livengood to Deadhorse. “Carioca” and “Polar Bear” travelled together towards the Artic Ocean.

Built to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, it offers challenging driving conditions, limited services, and stunning Arctic scenery. 

Heavy trucks have the right of way on the road and you should move to the side and slow down when crossing with them or being overpassed by them.

Expect to encounter fast-moving tractor-trailers and other large vehicles, particularly in the summer months.

Drivers should expect to be self-sufficient, carrying spare tires, tools, spare parts, food, and water due to the presence of rock chips, potholes, no cell service, and minimal services after Coldfoot. A CB radio tunned to channel 19 is a must.

We reached the Yukon River crossing at the end of our first section.

At the Yukon River Crossing there is a BLM ranger station. In the area you can also observe the pipeline from very close.

We then proceeded towards Finger Mountain named for Finger Rock a granite protrusion on its surface.

To end the day we proceeded to cross the Artic Circle.

The Arctic Circle is a line of latitude located at approximately 66°33′45.6″ north of the Equator. It marks the southernmost point where the sun is continuously above the horizon for 24 hours on the summer solstice and continuously below the horizon for 24 hours on the winter solstice. 

The Arctic Circle passes through seven other countries besides Alaska in the United States. They are:  Canada, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, and Iceland.

We camped at the BLM Artic Circle campground at the end of Day 1.