The Dalton vs The Dempster
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same…” - Robert Frost
First and foremost, this is our opinion of how the two roads treated us on our journey to Prudhoe Bay and our second trip to the Arctic Ocean going into Tuktoyaktuk. Other drivers that were on the road the same time as us had a much different experience.
Let’s cover the details of the two roads. The Dalton Highway, built in 1974 as a supply route for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is 414 miles long, which is, ironically 666 km long! The highway takes trucks and tourists from Fairbanks, AK north to where it ends in Deadhorse, AK. The Dalton is mostly a gravel road with about 130 miles of paved portions scattered throughout.
The Dempster Highway is 458 miles long and goes from Dawson City, YT, Canada north to the small village of Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territory. It’s the only road connecting the Canadian Road network to the Arctic Ocean. Completed in 1978, opened in 1979, two parts of the road are only crossable by ferry or ice bridge in the winter. Yeah, driving on a frozen river! The Dempster is only paved in Inuvik (About 20 miles).
In both cases, we had similar weather. On the first day, it started out clear on both roads and by evening, we had hit light rain. On both roads, the light rain made it better because it kept the dust down. But on the downside, it created quite a bit of mud being thrown on the truck and especially covering the back of the camper with a layer of dirt thick enough that the only color visible on the back was brown. Both roads, after the fact, required about $40 in car washes just to get the truck and camper looking remotely clean.
Both roads tackle their own mountain ranges. The Dalton goes through the Brooks Range at Coldfoot and up through the Atigun Pass, which is a steep grade, with a couple hairpin turns and no guard rails. On the way out to Prudhoe Bay, it was foggy, but we had about a quarter mile visibility. On the way back, it was clear and unobstructed views of huge mountain peaks and rugged landscape. The Dempster goes through the Ogilvie Mountains, with an amazing view of Tombstone Mountain, with it’s dark granite backdrop against the greens and blues of the lakes and landscaping. The Dalton had the harder range in our opinion and we thought had the better mountain views and lookouts.
Both roads start as forest roads and then transition into taiga, or boreal forest, and then into arctic tundra. The further north you go, the smaller the trees start to get until eventually it’s nothing but grasses and ponds on top of permafrost. Animal sightings are about the same on both roads, with the chances to see moose, bears, caribou and smaller animals from snowshoe hares to red foxes and arctic squirrels. We saw critters on both roads. We think we were luckier on the Dalton because we got in a traffic jam behind a couple caribou in Deadhorse, and that doesn’t happen in Phoenix (thankfully).
Traffic for both roads was noticably different. The Dalton is an access road for the Alaska Pipeline and therefor, there is significantly more large truck activity. This would be 18+ wheeled, double trailer tanker trucks going as fast as they can to get as far as they can on any given day. The Dempster was mostly tourist traffic and locals of the small villages and towns up there. When it comes to large trucks flying at you, your initial fear is that they are going to kick up rocks as they fly past and turn your windshield into a Spiderman-esque piece of art. What we discovered, was if you respect the trucks and you slow down and pull off to the right as far as you can, in nine out of ten trucks passing you, they also slow down and veer right to give you space and neither party ends up with cracked glass. Other drivers on the same road, at the same time, had cracks, but I can’t confirm whether or not they gave space. When they passed us on the way back to civilization, I’d be willing to bet that they did not give the courtesy. Zoom zoom equals insurance claim for glass. The dempster was hit or miss on whether you would get hit or missed. On the dry day back to Dawson City, the traffic passing us left a large enough dust cloud that we would have to physically stop the truck to let the dust settle, then drive and then continue the process again as more traffic passed us.
Where the roads differed the most was in creature comfort during the ride, aka, one road was more comfortable than the other. In our case, the Dalton was better than we had feared. Once on the dirt roads, you could get away with doing about 40mph to cruise over the washboard road. Ocassionally you would come across an area of potholes, but you could find and maintain a line on the road that avoided most holes. Once on asphalt, you would be wishing for more dirt! While the ride was smoother on pavement, the frost heaves (literal parts of the road lifted and dripped again due to ice forming under the road and thawing). Frost heaves led to potholes and on the rainy days, you couldn’t tell how deep the pool in the potholes were, so you would want to slow down and avoid those. On the Dempster, there was not really a comfortable speed to go in order to get over the washboards or avoid the potholes. We found that every time we’d think we were in the clear, a whole mine field of potholes would slow us back down to a crawl. I think we averaged 25mph on the Dempster and closer to 40mph on the Dalton. Since we broke two trailer hitches (one on each road), if you get the chance to leave your bike carriers or any other cargo boxes that hang on your hitches at your campsite or at a friend’s place, leave them behind!
Reminder that summer in Alaska and Canada is also construction season. On both roads, work is being done to repair potholes and frost heaves. Due to the Dalton being the more commercial road, we found that the work being done seemed more proactive and the Dempster being in greater need of repair.
Ends of the roads. Deadhorse is an oil town. There are tons of living quarters for employees and a few decent looking hotels for those visiting workers or the tourists pulling into town. The restaurant and store availability seemed more plentiful in Deadhorse than what we saw in Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk). Deadhorse had a little more infrastructure and Tuk was more of a fishing town for the locals. Our weather in both was windy and cold, and on the day we were looking around in Tuk, it was raining and there weren’t a lot of options for places to go. Deadhorse seemed to be more welcoming to tourism in our opinion.
Overall, we enjoyed the Dalton more than the Dempster. Perhaps if we had done the Dempster first, we’d have a different opinion and it wouldn’t feel like we were repeating a drive we had already done. The stops along the Dalton also seemed a little more welcoming to tourism, including Prospect Creek and Coldfoot. I won’t discount how nice Tsiigehtchic was while we traversed the Depster. If you get the chance to stay there for the night, the camping spots are first come first serve and very well maintained. The Arctic Ocean can be swam in at both locations but you do have to pay for a tour in order to swim in the Alaskan part, where the beach in Tuk is free.
If you get the chance to do both roads, do both! In our experience and opinion, if you can only choose one to take, we highly recommend the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse. And if you are going to go swimming, make sure to do the full plunge! It’s more invigorating than any Frappuccino we’ve ever had! Drive safe, enjoy any trip and that’s how WeirbackOnTrack!
