Our Alaska Adventures

Grande Prairie AB to MILE 0 Dawson Creek BC

We have been gone from home 18 days and have traveled 2,716 miles. Today we drive Hwy-40 to Hwy-43, make a left and head down the road to Dawson Creek. It is raining and we will be dirty again. Oh well

The roads are good

Canola is a major crop

Dawson Creek gained international attention in March 1942 when thousands of US troops invaded to begin construction on the Alaska Highway from the south end of the route. For a brief time, Dawson Creek's sparse population of 650 was overrun with 10,000+ GIs, straining local accommodations and food services, filling its sidewalks, and clogging the only movie theater in town.

Today over 75,000 people live in the area and is the last town of any size until you reach Fairbanks. In other words you pass the homes of more people in the first 50 miles of the Alaska Highway than you will on the entire 1,475 miles from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks.

Alaska Highway communities in BC are on Pacific Time in summer.

Surveyor Statue above the traffic circle that leads you to the famous highway

Roundabout with the famous Mile 0 Post.....the beginning of the highway

Much better without rain

The art gallery was built inside a renovated 1930's grain elevator

The grain elevator was moved the west end of town to the east where it now stands. This is all the more astonishing when you realize the combined weight of the elevatoris 750,000 lbs.

Train Station Museum and Visitor's Center

They are open...better go in

The rail arrived in 1931

Days of the pioneers

Admission is by donation

natural history part of the museum

You can get close to this Grizzly Bear

Downtown Dawson Creek Mile 0 Cairn

Much better without rain

Due to the downpour we had our picture taken inside

Alaska Highway House Museum

Airstream Group in our campground

Truck trip to the Kiskatinaw Bridge due to the weight limit (14 ton GVW)

Just off the Alaska Highway is the beautiful wooden curved Kiskatinaw River Bridge. The bridge is a marvel of engineering that took as long to build as the whole Alaska Highway.