Its summer now so it can't be that cold
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 seasonal residents.
The road itself is 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: 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 **** 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]
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.
Wikipedia.
