NOPEC
Well-known member
Continued from Part 1 - Paddling
Overlanding - Part 2
(the header is kind of an insult to real overlanders as this is a description of a new 450 million dollar road, albeit gravel, that you could shoot pool on if you were good....)
The new road is dubbed NWT highway 9 and named the "Tlicho Highway" or "Tlicho All-Season Road (TASR)". The landscape in this area of the NWT doesn't have the same topographic relief that other areas of the Yukon/NWT areas do , such as is found more west and north for example, along the Dempster Hwy. As such, it has considerable stretches of flat northern Boreal forest consisting of small tamarack and black spruce, that many would possibly consider boring when comparing to the wide open vistas along the Dempster, for example. To boot, much of the forest has been burned over by fires over the last decade. We certainly don't feel that way and the best part about this area is that there is hardly anyone there! There are tons (literally) of wildlife to enjoy and you are surrounded by the subtle beauty of the rolling granite outcrops of pre-Cambrian shield geology and the thousands of lakes and waterways that abound in the area.
The road is about 120 km one way, from Highway 3 to Whati (or Wha ti) on, as mentioned, the TASR. From speaking to local folks, it seems like the road has been created as a possible haul road for some nearby potential mines in the future. At Whati, the all season part of the road ends and winter only roads begin which service the small First Nations communities of Wekweeki and Gameti. If not for the potential for future industrial development, the economics of such a fancy road for such a small population base doesn't make any sense to be me, but I guess, the government built it.
The road is in fabulous condition (it opened in Nov 2021) with superb and plentiful stealth camping opportunities everywhere. The road is built through muskeg but there was an awful lot of gravel used for the new road, so there are lots of abandoned gravel pits and laybys that have good surfaces and you would have to be really careless or unlucky to get into a loss of traction/getting stuck scenario. The hamlet of Whati is very nice and sits picturesquely on the shores of a very large lake. There is a really good little campground at the edge of town and it has the usual Northern Store with limited and generally, pricey items for sale. There is no restaurant but the great part was it has a gas station and the clearly subsidized diesel was the cheapest we bought anywhere, north or south, on our trip. The big draw from the outside to the community has been the fishing but I suspect with the improved road, folks will start visiting just for the fun of it. I doubt it will ever grow as "a must do" North American overlanding destination, like the Dempster Hwy and Tuktoyaktuk or the Dalton Hwy. But for folks that are going to explore the road systems of the south east NWT and are including Yellowknife in their travels, I would definitely recommend the Tlicho Highway. I get the impression that Whati is a fairly pretty progressive little place and I sensed while I was there, that they are gently working on the "Build it and they will come" principle so who knows where it will all go.
Of course for us, the Wood Bison were the big draw to the area. A huge amount of the area north and west of Fort Providence and the Mackenzie River (not to mention the river's spanking newish "Deh Cho" bridge, but I will) is included in the Mackenzie Wood Bison Sanctuary, the largest of it's kind in the world. So Highway NWT highway 3 to Bechecho and then the Tlicho Highway to Whati are included in this area. There are bison every where, really big ones!!! One guy stood me down on the highway, I sensed him looking at my (to me) somewhat skookum steel front bumper bar and then I thought I heard a chuckle. I backed down......
There are also Barren-ground Caribou in the Sanctuary but they are usually seasonal due to migration patterns and we didn't see any.
PS: I lived and worked in the NWT for several years, my kids were born there, etc., so I must confess that this report might be a bit jaded. (no mention of winter or mosquitos might have been a clue). However, it eventually gets in your blood and somehow stays. I would highly recommend any type of trip up there, I sense they are working very hard to let everyone know that they are open for visitors! Enjoy it if you go!
Here are couple of pictures of the general area....
We have driven over the Deh Cho bridge a couple of times now and paddled under it once. It never fails to impress me completely, every time. Ok, so it was a tad over budget but hey, the government built it too.....
The sign isn't needed to give this fellow the right away......
This bull was protecting his herd and gave no quarter what so ever...... No argument.
The start of Highway NWT 9, the Tlicho all weather Highway
About half way down the highway.
Careful with those trees.
A bit of gravel was used to fill in the Muskeg. It always remains to be seen how long these roads hold together... Just one of many stockpiles.
Welcome to the Hamlet of Whati.
Whati sits on the shore of Lac La Martre
Overlanding - Part 2
(the header is kind of an insult to real overlanders as this is a description of a new 450 million dollar road, albeit gravel, that you could shoot pool on if you were good....)
The new road is dubbed NWT highway 9 and named the "Tlicho Highway" or "Tlicho All-Season Road (TASR)". The landscape in this area of the NWT doesn't have the same topographic relief that other areas of the Yukon/NWT areas do , such as is found more west and north for example, along the Dempster Hwy. As such, it has considerable stretches of flat northern Boreal forest consisting of small tamarack and black spruce, that many would possibly consider boring when comparing to the wide open vistas along the Dempster, for example. To boot, much of the forest has been burned over by fires over the last decade. We certainly don't feel that way and the best part about this area is that there is hardly anyone there! There are tons (literally) of wildlife to enjoy and you are surrounded by the subtle beauty of the rolling granite outcrops of pre-Cambrian shield geology and the thousands of lakes and waterways that abound in the area.
The road is about 120 km one way, from Highway 3 to Whati (or Wha ti) on, as mentioned, the TASR. From speaking to local folks, it seems like the road has been created as a possible haul road for some nearby potential mines in the future. At Whati, the all season part of the road ends and winter only roads begin which service the small First Nations communities of Wekweeki and Gameti. If not for the potential for future industrial development, the economics of such a fancy road for such a small population base doesn't make any sense to be me, but I guess, the government built it.
The road is in fabulous condition (it opened in Nov 2021) with superb and plentiful stealth camping opportunities everywhere. The road is built through muskeg but there was an awful lot of gravel used for the new road, so there are lots of abandoned gravel pits and laybys that have good surfaces and you would have to be really careless or unlucky to get into a loss of traction/getting stuck scenario. The hamlet of Whati is very nice and sits picturesquely on the shores of a very large lake. There is a really good little campground at the edge of town and it has the usual Northern Store with limited and generally, pricey items for sale. There is no restaurant but the great part was it has a gas station and the clearly subsidized diesel was the cheapest we bought anywhere, north or south, on our trip. The big draw from the outside to the community has been the fishing but I suspect with the improved road, folks will start visiting just for the fun of it. I doubt it will ever grow as "a must do" North American overlanding destination, like the Dempster Hwy and Tuktoyaktuk or the Dalton Hwy. But for folks that are going to explore the road systems of the south east NWT and are including Yellowknife in their travels, I would definitely recommend the Tlicho Highway. I get the impression that Whati is a fairly pretty progressive little place and I sensed while I was there, that they are gently working on the "Build it and they will come" principle so who knows where it will all go.
Of course for us, the Wood Bison were the big draw to the area. A huge amount of the area north and west of Fort Providence and the Mackenzie River (not to mention the river's spanking newish "Deh Cho" bridge, but I will) is included in the Mackenzie Wood Bison Sanctuary, the largest of it's kind in the world. So Highway NWT highway 3 to Bechecho and then the Tlicho Highway to Whati are included in this area. There are bison every where, really big ones!!! One guy stood me down on the highway, I sensed him looking at my (to me) somewhat skookum steel front bumper bar and then I thought I heard a chuckle. I backed down......
There are also Barren-ground Caribou in the Sanctuary but they are usually seasonal due to migration patterns and we didn't see any.
PS: I lived and worked in the NWT for several years, my kids were born there, etc., so I must confess that this report might be a bit jaded. (no mention of winter or mosquitos might have been a clue). However, it eventually gets in your blood and somehow stays. I would highly recommend any type of trip up there, I sense they are working very hard to let everyone know that they are open for visitors! Enjoy it if you go!
Here are couple of pictures of the general area....
We have driven over the Deh Cho bridge a couple of times now and paddled under it once. It never fails to impress me completely, every time. Ok, so it was a tad over budget but hey, the government built it too.....
The sign isn't needed to give this fellow the right away......
This bull was protecting his herd and gave no quarter what so ever...... No argument.
The start of Highway NWT 9, the Tlicho all weather Highway
About half way down the highway.
Careful with those trees.
A bit of gravel was used to fill in the Muskeg. It always remains to be seen how long these roads hold together... Just one of many stockpiles.
Welcome to the Hamlet of Whati.
Whati sits on the shore of Lac La Martre
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Closest I got to one of those diamonds was in the Territorial Museum on this last trip! Yes, the old world is shrinking indeed.
