Dalton Highway

Dalton Highway
James W. Dalton Highway North Slope Haul Road
Route information
Maintained by Alaska DOT&PF
Length:	414 mi (666 km)
Existed:	1974 – present
Major junctions
South end:	AK-2 (Elliot Highway) near Livengood
North end:	East Lake Colleen Drive in Deadhorse
Location
Boroughs:	Unorganized, North Slope
Highway system
Alaska Routes Interstate U.S. Scenic Byways ← AK-10 AK-98 →

The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a 414-mile (666 km)^[1] road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Once called the North Slope Haul Road (a name by which it is still sometimes known), it was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974. It is named after James Dalton, a lifelong Alaskan and an engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and, as an expert in Arctic engineering, served as a consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska.^[2]

Route description

Mile 256 on the Dalton Highway, north of the Continental Divide in the Brooks Range.

The highway facing south from Deadhorse, near the Arctic Ocean.

August snow storm on Dalton Highway

The highway, which directly parallels the pipeline, is one of the most isolated roads in the United States. There are only three towns along the route: Coldfoot (pop 10) at Mile 175,^[3] Wiseman (pop 22) at Mile 188,^[3] and Deadhorse (25 permanent residents, 3,500-5,000 or more seasonal residents depending on oil production) at the end of the highway at Mile 414.^[3] Fuel is available at the E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge (Mile 56), as well as Coldfoot and Deadhorse.^[3] Two other settlements, Prospect Creek and Galbraith Lake, are uninhabited except for campers and other short-term residents.

The road itself is mostly gravel, very primitive in places, and small vehicle and motorcycle traffic carries significant risk. The nearest medical facilities are in Fairbanks and Deadhorse. Anyone embarking on a journey on the Dalton is encouraged to bring survival gear.

Despite its remoteness, the Dalton Highway carries a good amount of truck traffic through to Prudhoe Bay: about 160 trucks daily in the summer months and 250 trucks daily in the winter.^[3] The highway comes to within a few miles of the Arctic Ocean. Beyond the highway's terminus at Deadhorse are private roads owned by oil companies, which are restricted to authorized vehicles only. There are, however, commercial tours that take people to the Arctic Ocean. All vehicles must take extreme precaution when driving on the road, and drive with headlights on at all times. There are quite a few steep grades (up to 12%) along the route, as well.

As of July 2013, 109 miles (175 km) of the highway are paved, in several sections, between the following mileages: 19 and 24; 37 and 50; 91 and 111; 113 and 197; 257 and 261; 344 and 352; and 356 and 361.

Truckers on the Dalton have given their own names to its various features, including: The Taps, The Shelf, The Bluffs, Oil Spill hill, Beaver Slide, Two and a Half Mile, Oh Shit Corner,^[4][5][6] and the Roller Coaster. The road reaches its highest altitude as it crosses the Brooks Range at Atigun Pass, 4,739 feet (1,444 m).

The highway is the featured road on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth seasons of the History reality television series Ice Road Truckers, which aired May 31, 2009 to present. It is also the subject of the second episode of America's Toughest Jobs and the first episode of the BBC's World's Most Dangerous Roads featuring Charley Boorman and Sue Perkins.^[7]Polar bears are known to traverse the Arctic region of Alaska and can be seen wandering the outskirts of the Dalton Highway. If that occurs, the Alaska DOT will shut down the road in the presence of polar bears. The wandering is an indication that a polar bear is on the hunt and has been known to attack people in defense or even prey.

Google Street View has coverage of nearly the entire highway, which can now be seen on Google Maps (imaging stops at the security gate leading to the Prudhoe Bay oil field). It is one of the most northerly routes of Google street view in North America.

Recent flooding of the Sagavanirktok River, combined with melting of nearby ice roads under warmer climatic conditions have forced weeks-long closures of the road and the need for significant repairs, costing several million US dollars.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Major intersections

Borough	Location	mi[12]	km	Destinations	Notes
Unorganized	Livengood	0	0.0	AK-2 (Elliot Highway) – Manley Hot Springs, Fairbanks	Southern terminus
	Hess Creek	21	34	Hess Creek Overlook & Rest Area	[12]
	Yukon River	55	89	E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge
	​	115	185	Arctic Circle Wayside Rest Area	A short side road leads to viewing deck with interpretive displays[12]
	​	126	203	Oh Shit Corner[4]
	Prospect Creek	135	217	Access road to Prospect Creek Airport	Site of the lowest recorded temperature in the United States
	Grayling Lake	150	240	Grayling Lake Wayside Rest Area
	Coldfoot	175	282	Coldfoot Road	To Coldfoot Visitor Center
		175	282	Airport Road	To Coldfoot Airport and Coldfoot Post Office
	Wiseman	189	304	Road to Wiseman
North Slope	​	248	399	Continental Divide / Atigun Pass	The highest-altitude point on the road (elevation 4,739 ft / 1,422 m); Rivers to the south flow to the Pacific Ocean or Bering Sea and rivers north of here flow into the Arctic Ocean
	Galbraith Lake	275	443	Galbraith Airport Road	To Galbraith Lake Airport
	Sag River	348	560	Sag River Overlook
	Deadhorse	414	666	East Lake Colleen Drive	To Deadhorse Airport and Prudhoe Bay; Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• List of Alaska Routes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dalton Highway.

Route map: Bing / Google

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Dalton Highway.

• BLM Alaska: Dalton Highway
• Bureau of Land Management 2011 Dalton Visitor Guide (24 pages)
• History Channel's "Ice Road Truckers" (Season Three)