Dalton Highway

The Dalton Highway stretches 414 miles across northern Alaska from Livengood (84 miles north of Fairbanks) to Deadhorse and the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay. Built during construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in the 1970s, this mostly gravel highway travels through rolling, forested hills, across the Yukon River and Arctic Circle, through the rugged Brooks Range, and over the North Slope to the Arctic Ocean. Along most of its length, you'll see no strip malls, no gift shops, no service stations—just forest, tundra, and mountains, crossed by a double ribbon of road and pipe.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages a swath of public lands along the highway from the Yukon River to the north side of the Brooks Range. Within the Dalton corridor, the BLM maintains campgrounds, rest areas, interpretive panels and the award-winning Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot.

This is no ordinary road -- it pays to be prepared. There is no cell phone service or public Internet connection along the Dalton Highway. Before you embark on this incredible journey, read the tips on this website.

Travelers in April and May can encounter challenging weather and road conditions. Winter lasts through April, and services are available only in Coldfoot and Deadhorse. On the North Slope, snowstorms and temperatures as low as 10°F sometimes continue into late May. The Alaska Department of Transportation provides travel advisories. Guided tours are available: check with the Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau for more information.

Hunting on the Dalton?

You can experience a great hunt and, with patience, hard work, and a little luck, bring home a supply of tasty, healthy meat. But there are some rules and regulations you should know before you start. Click here on our Tips for Dalton Highway Hunters page first. 

Contact Us

For additional questions about traveling the Dalton Highway:

Central Yukon Field Office
1150 University Avenue
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709-3844
tel: 907-474-2200 or (toll free) 1-800-437-7021
email: CentralYukon@blm.gov

Download the Dalton 
Highway Visitor Guide

Click on the image above to download your copy of the 24-page 2013 Dalton Highway Guide (3.24 MB PDF) or pick up a copy at our office or the Alaska Public Lands Information Center in Fairbanks.

Dalton InSights

DIGGING DEEP Before the Dalton Highway, the Brooks Range was so remote that miners used hand tools well into the 20th century. Outfits of 2-3 miners cooperated to use a piece of modern equipment like this churn drill (seen in its folded position). Fired by a small boiler, it could dig a test pit into frozen ground far faster than hand shoveling. This churn drill, recently refurbished in Fairbanks, will be part of an outdoor display in Coldfoot that recreates a drift mine from the 1930s.