2024 - Dempster Highway/Tuk

I always meant to write this but kept putting it off, saying to myself I was going to write something, and here I am a year later just about.

TLDR - Some reasonable level of prep is required, and time, but I think if it is on your bucket list of trips, I wouldn't be scared of it.

I will start by saying I tried to make this trip in 2022 first. I made it to Whitehorse, but due to a forest fire on each side of the highway to the North, I was forced to wait a few days, and I ran out of time on a relatively tight timeline due to limited time booked off work. Now, I could have gone around the fire via Alaska, but I didn't bring Passports for myself or my son as it wasn't in the plan. So that ended that trip. Gave myself the next timeline of Summer 2024 to make sure I had adequate time to prep and take off a much longer period of time with work as contingency.
So the BC portion of the trip was a near repeat from my 2022 attempt.


2024, July.
~ total distance of trip, 8400km/5220miles.I have a google map snip, that doesn't include some sightseeing detours, going to Carcross desert in BC, ect. but as a sort of high level round trip this is what it was.

My trip started off by heading to Kelowna, BC, to the BCOR event for the weekend, then up to Terrace BC for the night to visit with a buddy I used to work with. Then north up the Stuart Cassiar Highway to Watson lake, the signpost forest and camping overnight. Then up through Whitehorse to Dawson City for the night before making the trek North on the Dempster.

So, this is where I will get into more detail because its probably what people would be interested in by clicking this thread. Though I would suggest if anyone is able, you should drive highway 37/Stuart Cassiar. Both times I have done it, its just a beautiful drive.

Dempster.
So before starting up. My son and I went to the Dawson City tourist center which is a great resource to find out the present condition of the highway.
Overall the trip was going to be hot, anywhere between 25C-30C+ every day.
We were warned that the Yukon side was not that well maintained, but once you get to the NWT, it is better. This turned out to be pretty true. NWT was relatively well maintained, mostly flat, North of Inuvic was pretty washboardy, but not bad. Yukon side was washboardy, big potholes, vary everything from basically dirt to river gravel.

Overall I don't see this as being too much of an issue for most 4x4 capable vehicles with stock suspension, but I did see a number of people make an attempt at this trip with like a VW Jetta with 30 series tires, some abandoned due to multiple flats, some running on spares ect.
Overall most sections of the road don't seem to be vary scary if you have reasonable sidewall and air down a few PSI.
Where myself, and lots of people that I talked to that have, or were doing the trip run into problems is a section just before and after the NWT boarder before the Peel river ferry crossing.
At the time leading up to it, it was pretty rough, river rock style gravel road. But then we hit this super smooth driving section on "black" rock. It was refreshing to be able to pick up the pace as it was so smooth. But as soon as I got to the Peel River ferry, this is when my problems started.
I got out for a stretch waiting for a ferry only to find one of my tires looked a little bit low. I have an SR5 Trail, and it doesn't have TPMS. Pull out the gauge and yep, like 20 PSI and I can hear it hiss as I get close. Damn it. I break out the pump and get things topped up to get across on the ferry. Make my way to Ft Mcpherson and a little tire shop there.
This is where I will state, I was driving on the stock Goodyear Territory AT tire. Probably 65-70% treadlife left. Ignoring my own mental warnings that I should have gotten better tires for this trip, But when I got the truck I promised I would use these tires until they were done because not a single vehicle I have ever got new has stayed on its stock tires for very long haha.
The tire shop seemed like a decent place to get things on a lift, swap over to my spare and have a look at the puncture and see if it just needs a plug or what (I had a kit with me so no issues) This is where I ran into my first problem. I tore my truck apart looking for the factory locking lug key... Fuuu. Call my wife who goes to the garage and says yep, this baggy with it and the spare lugs are sitting on my shop table in the garage. God - f'ing - damn it.
Long story short, do an in-situ plug repair. Can't switch to my spare without destroying the key lug, and I don't have my spares. Genius.
So that is lessons learnt #1. Swap to all the same lugs, no locking lug's, eliminate the need to rely on a special key that you may forget or lose.
This drastically, mentally affected me for the rest of the trip. The worry about the plug letting go, or getting worse, or getting another flat I couldn't repair, and couldn't switch to a spare for became a problem. Pace changed, stopped every like 30 min to an hour of driving to check the tire and the tire pressure. This also made me rush, and speed through and not spend time camping overnight for a few nights in places ect because I wanted to rush back to "civilization" to get this dealt with. (Whitehorse)
I planned, if I had extra time to do Alaska (I brought our passports this time) and go through the taylor highway/top of the world highway on my way back down. But I nixed this when I got back to Dawson City just do to what I felt was too much risk going on another couple hundred miles or whatever of remote gravel road with no ability to swap to a spare.
So I headed back down to Whitehorse and went to the Toyota Dealership there, which had a universal "master" lock key set. They got them off no problem and I purchased 4 new regular lugs in place. I then went to a tire shop and got myself a set of 265/75R16 KO2's.
By this time, and after the Dempster, that ~70% treadlife was down to like, I dunno 15-20% usable, chunked up gravel road eaten treads. IMO, they were done.

No issues on the rest of the trip.
I would be glad to go into more detail or answer questions, but for now some thoughts about my trip and lessons learnt.
1) based on what I saw, the stock Territory AT tires are not suitable for the trip. I mean its anecdotal, but I saw two other Taco's, one of which was the same as mine, Lunar Rock TRAIL, running a spare with a stock/tire rim sitting flat in his truck bed. I saw him a couple times during the trip on the Dempster so I know he came off it. And another TRD offroad, same deal, Territory AT, flat on a roofrack, riding a spare. I saw him coming off the Dempster as I was going up. Also since then I have talked with a few people here and there and a number of them that did get flats, all said it was this same section of road. On my way down, I drove much slower over it and stopped at a camp site that was in that stretch of road. Turns out its black shale, and its all sharp right angles, 90 degree edges, sharp points. I should have known better, but it checks out.
If you are going to run SL, C rated tires, then you may want to consider a full spare, and maybe even an extra tire w/without the rim. They should be pretty high in tread life too. This road will destroy them and if your tread depth is low, its going to for sure increase your risk of a puncture/cut.
Personally, I wouldn't run this road without an E load tire again with plenty of tread depth.

2) Make sure, double, triple check you have the ability to get your spare on and off, lug nut key/lock, or just do away with the locking lug all together.
3)Fuel - The longest distance you will need to travel without available fuel is about 400km. So depending on your rig and the distance you can go, you may want to carry spare fuel.
This is also recommended for a few reasons, not all gas stations up there at all times of the year actually have gas, and or are even open. You may need up to 600km of self sufficient range. Though I believe this is unlikely if you travel in the summer months once the ferry's are up and running and shipments are fairly regular. But really early in the season between the ice road melting and the ferry running regularly, I have heard some of these places can be out of gas for weeks/months. So just keep that in mind.
Also, not everyone pays attention to the range they need, so I have heard its not uncommon to come across people that have run out of gas on the road and need help. Though I did not encounter this.

4) Time. I personally rushed this. For two reasons. Obviously the flat tire and running on a plug on one of the most remote roads in north america will give you some worry. But my attempt that failed in 2022. I just wanted to "get it complete". I was up to Tuk from Dawson city in two days(more like a day and a half), and down in the same amount of time. I should have taken my time, camped at way more camp sites, driven slower, stopped more and really enjoyed it. It is so beautiful everywhere you look. Next time, and I think there is going to be a next time within the next 3 years. I am going to do this way slower. At least 3 days up and 3 days down.
But Plan for a lot of time depending on where you are coming from. Alternate routes, time to wait things out. With forest fires as bad as they are, when there is only one road going to and from places, a forest fire can really bring things to a halt

5) The drive up was very dry and dusty. But I was fine with it. I was told by some locals that when oncoming against a semi, pull as far over as you can to the side and come to a stop and let them by.
I can't recommend that advice enough, especially when its dusty. Some of the semi drivers are courteous, and will drive to the edge of the road. Others will just blast down the middle at full speed and not think twice. When it is dusty, and those truckers pass you have 0, ZERO visibility till the dust settles or blows away. And trust me these roads are not places to end up in the "ditch" if you can call them that.
The drive down, most of the way was dry and dusty, but getting to the Yukon side they were spreading brine on the roads to keep the dust down. It is so mucky, sticky, nasty. Its like cement. Bring good wipers and plenty of windshield washer fluid. There is a car was at a camp ground in Dawson city, as well as one in Inuvik if you need. Highly recommend cleaning your vehicle of this stuff. When I got back down to Dawson City I think I spent $25 at the car wash and it still wasn't that clean.



I think my biggest take away and advice for other people is that this road isn't that scary. People drive it every day. Heck I passed like an 80year old lady driving up it in a 92 Civic hatchback. Its doable with the right prep.
If you are thinking about this road trip, I highly recommend it, just do it. Plan to take your time.

 

Wow? Absolute dream trip