Cassiar Highway

[HueyPoe]

How is the Cassiar Highway as an alternative to the Alaska Highway? Going up in June on the Alaska Highway, but considering a return route via the Cassiar in September.

Drove it way back in 1986 in an SUV, and it was gravel. Is it paved yet? If so, how is it for a motor home?

Side trips? Scenery, in general?

It's been a long time and I have forgotten.

Thanks.

Bud Poe

[tbutler]

I would advise anyone to take the Cassiar. We drove the Cassiar Highway in late August 2006 and found the road to be excellent with the exception of two short (10 to 20 mile) stretches of gravel. It was a wet summer in 2006 and we arrived in Stewart with a nice coating of dirt on the motor home but they have a RV wash there which even has HOT water! I gave the rig a good going over including the engine compartment. We left much cleaner than when we arrived!

Our main objective was to visit Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. We enjoyed both for what they are. It would be hard to beat the bear experience at Hyder though the accommodations there are extremely thin. Stewart provides much better RV parks and is a much nicer town to visit. I was rather surprised to find that the pavement ends at the Canada/US border. It didn't just end, as you cross into Hyder you are faced with what barely qualifies as a road. North of Hyder and Fish Creek where you find the bears, you cross back into Canada and there is fine gravel road there. The drive on up the mountain is very scenic and ends at a spectacular overlook on Salmon Glacier. After we left Stewart, we returned to Hwy 37 and continued on south and back to the coast at Prince Rupert, BC which has a fine museum worth a day's visit. That drive netted us several bear sightings as well. Prince Rupert is a nice town to explore on foot and has some interesting places to eat.

If you are making the trip to Alaska, you really must have The Milepost. It has the latest information on road conditions and planned road work. It also has the most complete listing of points of interest along all of the routes to/from and around Alaska. We spent a summer there in 2006 and I'd get The Milepost again just for the current information. You'll also find information by searching the web but the organization of The Milepost is very helpful for trip planning.

Enjoy your trip.

[rossboyer]

We traveled south on the Cassiar highway early September last year. Northern third was rough asphalt, but the southern two thirds was great. The only black bear we saw on our whole trip was about half way. Don't miss the indian village on the sothern end. Great culture site.