June 17, 2025 - Driving to Alaska
Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon
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Today we would drive from Watson Lake to Whitehorse, a relatively "short" drive of four and a half hours along the Alaska Highway.
The first 40 miles or so were through flat terrain, covered by small pine trees. But visibility was excellent so you could see the mountains in the distance.
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| Now we're entering the mountains. |
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On a whim, we stopped at the Continental Divide Restaurant and RV Park. You can get gas here too. This is not your usual establishment. One woman ran the entire place. We decided to have breakfast. There was no menu. The woman said order whatever you want and I'll make it. I had eggs & bacon and it was very good. Lynnette had some homemade soup. A couple of bicyclists came in and we enjoyed talking with them about their experience riding bikes to and from Alaska. Brave souls, that's for sure! At night, they just pull off the road into the woods, out of sight, to set up their tent. They can eat as much as they want because they burn so many calories. The woman did it all: cooked, waited on tables, ran the cash register, everything. She'd only been working there a few weeks.
I think you can park your RV here, and their is a bunkroom also.
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| Interesting place! |
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Ever see the inside of a gas pump? Here's your chance.
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| Continuing on, we approach the little village of Teslin on the shore of big and long Teslin Lake. |
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About to cross an offshoot of Lake Teslin into the village of Teslin.
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| In Teslin, you can stay or get something to eat at the Yukon Motel & Restaurant. You can also get gas. Having just had breakfast, we did not stop this time but coming back from Alaska we did stop here and had a good breakfast. |
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Continuing northwest along the eastern shore of Lake Teslin.
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| Black bear sighting! |
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| That's a big one. |
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| Further along, we came to Marsh Lake. We decided to stop at Army Beach and stretch our legs. |
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Nice beach on a beautiful day.
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| Bear tracks? No, probably dog. |
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I was excited when we came to this blue bridge because I knew we were getting close to Whitehorse. Whitehorse Airport uses the blue bridge as a reporting point for pilots coming and going.
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Crossing the mighty Yukon River! The Yukon River flows into Marsh Lake and continues on to the south into British Columbia. The lower half of the river continues westward through Alaska. The river is 1,980 mies long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. |
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| A better look at the Yukon River. |
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| And then we were in Whitehorse, capital city of the Yukon. We started at the Visitor's Center. |
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Checking out a 3D topographical map of Yukon.
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Whitehorse's downtown area is on the south of the Yukon River. Further south is a big plateau on which the Yukon Airport sits.
The city was named after the White Horse Rapids for their resemblance to the mane of a white horse. Whitehorse has a population of 28,000.
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| Whitehorse has a nice riverwalk along the river. |
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Since there are things to see in Whitehorse, we would spend the entire day tomorrow sightseeing. We stayed at the very nice Bluejay Suites B&B on the western outskirts of town for two nights.
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