The Rover-Landers of BC

Hi All,
Myself and a FJ60 owner friend are making plans for a early August departure from Indianapolis to drive the Canol Road and then I am heading to Tuktoyaktuk to drive the recently opened road. We are hoping members may be able to furnish updated general information regarding the road and any advice. Also, I saw some older information regarding the government limiting or prohibiting access to the region. We are assuming that mid to late August timeframe is a good time to beat the snow season.

Though both trucks are well kitted out, it is our intention to drive as much of the road that is practical without tearing up the trucks or getting stranded.

We will take the Bellingham, WA ferry to Skagway and then drive back to the States via Canadian roads eastward. If anyone wants to join us along the way, you are invited.

I must add that having traveled much of North and Central America in my Defender over the years, I have never been in Alaska or NW Canada, so am looking forward to seeing the region!

thanks for any information or suggestions,

Jon

Jon Haskell
Carmel, IN USA
"Nigel" 97 D90 NAS, 374,000 miles. (now in pieces being moved to a new chassis, with a engine and transmission rebuild)

Where exactly are you meaning? The Canol road is not passable.

Thanks for the reply. It was our understanding portions were still passable from Ross River. Not so?

You can drive to the border and back. I’m not sure there is a point though. It is just a regular road.

You can drive from the Alaska Hwy and turn onto the South Canol Hwy at Johnston’s crossing then up to Ross River, take the ferry over the river to the North Canol Hwy. Highway is a very loose term in the North...basically a dirt road. This will take you to the Yukon-NWT border...this is where the Canol “Trail” starts.

There are no services or fuel after Ross River...wilderness only.

The Canol Trail is not to be taken lightly...many river crossings, rock slides, etc...if you do this it’s also the same way out as in.

I wouldn’t do this with just two vehicles.

We did it with 5 Rovers, almost a year of preparation and barely made it halfway.

Lots of places to wheel up north without putting you or your vehicles in harms way.

There was a couple of expeditions completed along the Canol Road by Rover-landers a few years back and I remember from their photos, videos & reports of amazing scenery and many positive comments that it was a really great adventure. "A trip of a life time" one person wrote. They travelled up to the NWT border and way beyond... but it does get very challenging and is very overgrown once you get deeper into NWT.
Sure you will eventually need to turn around and retrace your steps but you also have to do that once you drive to Tuktoyaktuk!

I think if you are looking for an adventure and haven't done much of the North West its a great idea... Go for it.

IMO, there is no point going there. There is nothing much to see and you can't get through. You are just tearing up a hiking trail that is not passable with vehicles and giving the 4WD community a bad name.

There are interesting places to go. Tuk is probably not one either. People just go there to day they did it. A lot of driving for very little. Highway 4 and 6 are interesting. Lots to see around Dawson. Keno City is worth a trip with lots of old mines to visit that require off road travel.

Tuk is 100% worth it. Being able to drive to the Beaufort sea, see the struggles that Tuk and the north have had and have, the scenery, the tundra, the magnificence if it all is more than worth it. Just because it is not a hard core trail shouldn't discourage you.

Here's a 3 part article on our trip - we were the very first to drive it, prior to it being open and completed.

Tuktoyaktuk 2017 Articles

As others have said, the Canol is a challenge, go look, if in doubt turn around! There is a lifetimes exploring up north. Go and enjoy.

red90 wrote: Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:55 am IMO, there is no point going there. There is nothing much to see and you can't get through. You are just tearing up a hiking trail that is not passable with vehicles and giving the 4WD community a bad name.

I agree with this (assuming that you're talking about the Canol Heritage Trail). I've done the entire thing - in a chopper, at low level and stopping at many of the camps on the way - and I can tell you that it isn't do-able. On a skidoo in winter perhaps, but not in any motorized vehicle in summer. There are many places where the road simply doesn't exist, and the river crossings have already been mentioned. The Mackenzie (should you want to go to Norman Wells) is 5km wide, and there's no road out of the Sahtu in summer. You would indeed be tearing up a hiking trail, and don't forget that in that part of the world the climate is such that a set of footprints can take decades to disappear, let alone vehicle tracks.

It is a monumental journey on foot, but that's the only way that I'd do it. (I believe that it has been done by bicycle, some guy who had a raft to get across the rivers with, but even then the current in the Mackenzie is far too strong to be crossed by paddle boat.) I worked in Norman Wells for a couple of years and am fairly familiar with the area.