Category: Canada

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20250825 – Canadian campgrounds

We camped at Wolf Creek Campground just SE of Whitehorse last night. It’s a Yukon Regional Park official campsite. Every time I camp in a Canadian campground I am impressed. They are far superior to most all campgrounds I have experienced in the US National Parks, BLM, or FS. Tonight $18 CAD (which is about $12 US).

It’s funny because they are not much different except they seem to have more amenities for a lower cost. The camps are easily paid for with cash or with an app. Most have reserved sites and some first come first serve, so there is almost always a site for spontaneous travelers. Some sites have RV dumps and water available as well for free. And they are generally better set up and maintained.

AND there are wood sheds with wood available FOR FREE. US parks often don’t allow wood gathering and require you to purchase it from the camp host, bring it in from home (as long as its not too far so as to no bring in pests), or purchase it from the local store for a $7-10 cost per bundle, on top of the $20-24 campsite fee. A weekend at a US campsite will cost you $50-75 in fees and $50-100 in firewood if you burn nights and morning fires. Plan for a week and that could reach $400. Ridiculous. Everything in the US is behind a paywall, which I could understand for private campgrounds, but these are resources owned and operated by the Gov for the people.

In Canada it’s all included for $18 CAD.

And it’s not free market, IMO, it’s mismanagement of our government resources. What can we do to change this?

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20250823-24 – Dyea and Skagway, goodbye Alaska

We stayed two nights in the ghost town campground of Dyea. This place was home to 5000-7000 folks during the gold rush years of 1897-1898. Along with Skagway, it was the land gateway to the Klondike. Skagway made it due to its deep harbor and the new railroad and roadway connection. Dyea died out and turned to farmland for a while. They tried to build a pier, but with it being over a mile long and still not into deep water, that has also fallen to ruin.

The campground is nice though. Quiet and remote. We did some reading in the nice weather, took a long hike through the trails of the town and gave the dogs some exercise. Kathy and I took an afternoon stroll to the salmon stream and walked in its waters and chased and caught some of the salmon. We had a pretty good couple of days there.

We packed up on Sunday and headed back to Skagway to get a shower at the recreation center. For $10 a day you can get access to the facilities and the showers. It was nice to get cleaned up. We also stopped by the grocery store for some tortillas, creamer, and sodas and then had brunch at a place on the pier that was suggested by the rec center attendant. Kathy had some king crab legs and I enjoyed some fish and chips while chatting with some locals and tourists.

We drove back up the canyon through Whites Pass and crossed back into Canada without the inspection from customs. We may be back in Alaska one more time, but this was the last big visit. It is lived and will be missed.

I was able to contact the old friend we missed in Whitehorse and we met up at Miles Canyon there for a hike. It was a beautiful day and we hiked 3 miles to another ghost town from the early days along the Yukon River.

It was already 7:30 when we set out to gas up, and were able to visit the RV dump and water station as well. We found an awesome campground at Wolf creek right out of town and enjoyed the Canadian Regional park for the night.

Here are some additional photos from the past days.
https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20250823-24-dyea-and-skagway

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20250819-20 – Alcan South

We drove the 30 miles back up to Fairbanks to pick up Sean’s Rx and then had a nice lunch at a local burger place. We turned Howie south again and drove until about 6 pm on AK Highway 1. There were some beautiful rest stops along the way and we took a few pictures.

We found a nice little campground along the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and met a nice couple from Michigan and another from Oklahoma. We didn’t see any big game, but there was a pair of Trumpeter Swans swimming around the lake.

There are lots of road repairs along the highway and several times we waited for pilot cars. I didn’t call it construction because the highway department up here is constantly dealing with road issues related to the seasonal weather. Freezing and melting of the land is not easy on the roads.

We crossed back into Canada on the 20th and continued South. We started to see Fall colors down here as many trees are turning yellow and the shrubs in the forests are orange and red. We found a nice wild beach campsite along Kluane Lake near the Congdon Creek Regional Park in the Yukon. We collected some wood, had a nice fire, and then retreated inside as the rain started. It rained all night. Tomorrow we cross back into the USA and arrive in Haines.