Northern Lights
- They appear as immense, neon-green curtains in the night sky, swirling, changing position even as you watch them wide-eyed: the northern lights or aurora borealis. It is a natural phenomenon caused by the collision of atoms with other charged particles, but those lucky enough to glimpse this light show may find it more magical than scientific. Travel the Alcan between August and March and you are likely to see the northern lights at any point from the time you leave Dawson Creek in British Columbia, which is mile zero of the Alaska Highway. If you are traveling in summer, you can still have fun in Dawson, visiting the Walter Wright Pioneer Village to see what the town was like in yesteryear, before the Alaska Highway was built. The summer farmer's market in Dawson in also colorful and lively.
Mountains
- You will never think of mountains in the same way once you take in Kluane National Park and Reserve, the empire of peaks and ice that is the pride of the Yukon Territory. The Alaska Highway borders this wondrous park about 100 miles west of Whitehorse, and it is foolish not to schedule time for an extended visit. You can enter the park from the Alcan at Lake Kathleen or Sheep Mountain, but most people go in on foot or by raft. Within Kluane lie some of the highest peaks in North America, including Mount Logan, the tallest in Canada. Since much of the park wears a permanent mantle of frozen water, you can also ogle the most extensive ice fields outside the poles. The first-come, first-served campground at Lake Kathleen is an excellent choice for lodging, rustic with bear-proof food lockers.
Wildlife
- The vast swath of Canada you cross as you head up the Alcan is largely remote and undeveloped, and wildlife-viewing is one of the pleasures of the trip. Keep your binoculars trained at mountain slopes to catch sight of Dall sheep, with their curling horns, and mountain goats. Moose will likely be close enough for a photograph. You might catch sight of a black bear anywhere along the route, especially in forested regions, but the odds of seeing bear increase as you approach the Kluane area. Large populations of grizzly bears thrive in the wilderness park, alternating between mountain meadows and forested valleys as the seasons pass. You might also see wolves, wolverine, muskrat, red fox, lynx and otter.
Rivers and Waterfalls
- Just after passing the small community of Fort Nelson, the Alaska Highway turns left toward the Rockies. If, instead, you opt to travel unpaved Laird Highway a few miles north, you will come to Nahanni National Park, an astounding park containing 1,840 miles of wilderness. You can hike in, ski in or take a charter plane, but whichever way you experience this magnificent, unspoiled area, you will never forget it. The choppy Mackenzie Mountains traverse the park and the South Nahanni River charges through the rugged range, providing thrill-a-minute river rafting. In time, the river drops over Virginia Falls, a powerful and exquisite waterfall two times the height of Niagara and pushing more water. After the waterfall, the South Nahanni pounds through one of North America's deepest gorges, where the canyon walls are almost a mile high.
