There's lonely, and then there's the Campbell Highway. Six hundred kilometers of gravel and broken pavement running from Watson Lake to Carmacks through the empty heart of the Yukon, the Campbell offers nothing that most highways promise: no gas stations for 230-kilometer stretches, no cell service, no towns worthy of the name, no guarantee that help is coming if your vehicle breaks down. What it offers instead is wilderness on a scale that erases human arrogance - forest and lake and river and mountain, caribou and moose and bears, and the profound silence of a landscape that doesn't care whether you make it through. The Campbell is named for Robert Campbell, a Hudson's Bay Company trader who walked this route in the 1840s. He had no choice. You do. That's the appeal.
Robert Campbell was a Scottish trader who explored the central Yukon for the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1840s, establishing trading posts and mapping rivers before roads or railways existed. His route from the Liard River to the Yukon River system roughly follows what is now the Campbell Highway. Campbell walked - there was no other option - through country that remains almost as wild today. He nearly starved, suffered scurvy, watched his posts burn, and kept coming back. The highway named for him commemorates a kind of travel we can barely imagine: on foot, alone, in a landscape that could kill you in countless ways.
The Campbell Highway was constructed in the 1960s, primarily to access tungsten mines at Cantung in the Northwest Territories. It's 583 kilometers from Watson Lake to Carmacks, where it meets the Klondike Highway. The road is paved in sections, gravel in others, and rough enough throughout that spare tires and emergency supplies are required rather than recommended. Gas is available at Watson Lake, Ross River (approximately halfway), and Carmacks - and nowhere in between. The 360-kilometer stretch from Watson Lake to Ross River has no services at all. Plan accordingly or stay home.
The Campbell Highway passes through one of the least populated regions of North America. Ross River, the only community along the route, has about 350 people. The highway crosses the Pelly River, the Ross River, and dozens of unnamed creeks. It passes through forests of spruce and pine, crosses alpine tundra, and skirts lakes that have no names on most maps. Traffic is measured in vehicles per day, not per hour. You can drive for hours without seeing another car. The silence, when you stop and shut off your engine, is total. This is what most of North America was like before we filled it with ourselves.
Driving the Campbell Highway requires preparation. Cell service doesn't exist for most of the route; emergency communication requires satellite devices. Flat tires are common; carry two spares. Gas range must exceed 360 kilometers or you'll need jerry cans. Wildlife is abundant and often on the road - moose collisions kill people. Weather changes rapidly; snow is possible any month. The road surface varies from decent to brutal, sometimes within the same kilometer. All of this is part of the appeal - the Campbell offers adventure that most highways have eliminated. It also offers genuine risk for the unprepared.
The Campbell Highway (Highway 4) runs from Watson Lake (at the junction with the Alaska Highway) to Carmacks (at the junction with the Klondike Highway). Most drivers take 8-12 hours, with stops. Watson Lake has full services, including the famous Sign Post Forest. Ross River, 360 kilometers from Watson Lake, has gas, limited food, and a hotel. Carmacks has gas and basic services. Fill up at every opportunity. The highway is open year-round but winter driving is extreme - temperatures below -40°, limited daylight, and no rescue services. Summer brings mosquitoes in densities that constitute torture. Spring and fall offer the best conditions. Drive the Campbell to experience the Yukon that still exists beyond the tourist routes.
Located between 60°N-62°N along a 583-kilometer route through central Yukon. From altitude, the Campbell Highway appears as a thin line through unbroken wilderness - forest, lakes, and mountains with almost no human presence visible. Ross River is the only significant settlement along the route. The Pelly River and its tributaries wind through the territory. The Alaska Highway is visible at Watson Lake to the southeast; the Klondike Highway at Carmacks to the northwest. The terrain is subarctic wilderness: boreal forest, muskeg, and the beginnings of alpine tundra at higher elevations. The isolation is absolute - this is one of the least populated regions of North America.