It took us three driving days, and two layover days, to drive the 449 mile Cassiar Highway. The Cassiar ends at a junction with the Alaska Highway, just after crossing the border between British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. We are now camped in a Yukon Government campground a few kilometers outside of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon and the first city (pop 24,000) we have been in since Prince George BC.
The Cassiar Highway is very scenic and remote. The scenery is endless snow capped mountains interspersed with lakes and rivers. There are maybe six gas stations (with two 1970s vintage pumps each) and only one small town (Stewart/Hyder, pop 800), and that town isn’t even on the highway, it’s a 45 minute drive down a side road. The “highway” is paved, but there are no shoulders or passing lanes, and the last portion doesn’t have a centerline, probably because that would highlight the fact that the roadway is really only 1.75 lanes wide.
Despite the primitive roadway, driving the Cassiar was pretty relaxing since we seldom saw other cars. Poking along at around 45 mph we would often go an hour or more before someone showed up in our rear view mirror, and it was frequently half an hour between oncoming vehicles.
Less relaxing was the price of gas along the Cassiar. Gas is more expensive in all of Canada; the lowest price we have paid was CAD 1.30 per liter at the Prince George Costco, which works out to around USD 4.50/gallon. The first gas station we checked on the Cassiar was CAD 1.59/liter, so we passed it by figuring the next station couldn’t be higher. Wrong. We ended up paying CAD 1.65/liter, or around USD 5.75/gal! In an RV that gets 8 MPG. Better to no think about it too much.
Fortunately, the Cassiar has three lovely BC provincial parks. We spent two nights at the beautiful Metziadan Lake Provincial Park, and then two nights at the equally stunning Boya Lake Provincial Park. Like Tyhee Lake, both campgrounds had well spaced and level campsites and friendly staff, and Boya Lake even had a playground for the kids.
When we hit the Alaska Highway after entering the Yukon it was like returning to civilization. The Alaska Highway has shoulders and a centerline, and the gas stations are only 45 minutes apart instead of hours apart. However for every open business on the Alcan there are 2-3 closed ones, and most of the open ones were for sale.
We are now spending a few days in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. More about Whitehorse later.
