On the spectacular Stewart-Cassiar Highway through British Columbia, motorhome tourists can discover some of Canada’s most remote regions
It’s a foggy day on board the Northern Expedition. The ferry is plowing through the waters of Canada’s west coast at just under 20 knots. Screeching seagulls accompany the BC Ferries ship, and every now and then an eagle circles in the sky.
We sail through fjords and inlets, past wooded islands and islets, lighthouses and lonely coastal villages.
We are traveling on the Inside Passage, a spectacular sea route along the coast of British Columbia to Alaska, which is one of the most scenic in North America. After a 22-hour journey, the “Northern Expedition” reaches its destination: the harbor town of Prince Rupert on the Pacific Ocean.
We drive our motorhome out of the belly of the ferry and the road trip can begin. Ahead of us lies a tour through some of the most remote areas of Canada: we want to drive via the Stewart-Cassiar and Alaska Highway to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory — almost 1400 kilometers of solitude. We follow the Skeena River valley to Kitwanga, where the route known as Highway 37 begins.
The narrow and largely paved highway winds its way north through valleys and rainforests, past indigenous villages with totem poles and longhouses. At Medicine Lake, we park the motorhome right by the lake, jump into the crystal-clear water and sizzle up a steak in the evening. The campfire crackles, billions of stars twinkle in the sky above us. Somewhere there is a rustling in the bushes. A bear? Or just a deer? Then silence like we’ve never experienced at home — camper’s bliss!
Fjords and mighty glaciers
The next morning brings a highlight: we drive past Bear Glacier on a cul-de-sac. The gleaming white ice tongue of the glacier is so close that you can almost touch it with your hands. At the end of the road, we reach the small town of Stewart on the Portland Canal, the fourth longest fjord in the world. This is literally the end of the world — almost. From Stewart, it’s a stone’s throw to the neighboring village of Hyder, which is already part of Alaska. There is no US border post, just houses with weathered facades. A bumpy forest road takes us to a platform on Fish Creek, where grizzly bears can be seen fishing for salmon in late summer. If the gravel road allows, we continue up to the Salmon Glacier Lookout, with a magnificent view of the gigantic ice field.
Reddish ash on the Edziza volcano
Back on the highway, it becomes increasingly lonely: endless spruce forests pass by the windshield, along with crystal-clear lakes and waterfalls. At Natadesleen Lake, we cross over to the other shore by canoe, where a short hiking trail leads to Cascade Falls, dramatic waterfalls that cascade down several steps into the valley. A juicy grilled burger at the campsite completes the day.
At a viewpoint on the highway in the morning, we have a fantastic view of the bizarre lunar landscapes of the Mount Edziza volcano. Thin clouds have settled around the mountain peaks, giving the reddish ash a mystical atmosphere.
As if through the backdrop of an adventure film, we steer through the endless and deserted landscape, cross the Stikine River on a steel bridge and the 1241-metre-high Gnat Pass, the highest point of the journey. In Jade City, a trading post for jade blocks, which are mined here, we buy a carved and polished grizzly bear made of jade stone in the souvenir store — a nice souvenir.
We finally reach Watson Lake near the junction with the legendary Alaska Highway. The village is already located in the Yukon and is famous for the Sign Post Forest, a collection of more than
more than 100,000 town signs and license plates from all over the world. As we stroll through the forest of signs, we discover a yellow town sign from our home town. I wonder who took it down in Germany and put it back up here?
From Watson Lake, it’s a good four hours’ drive along the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse. After a good 1500 kilometers, our journey through the breathtaking wilderness of British Columbia comes to an end. We drop off our camper and fly back to Vancouver from the international airport. What an adventure!