Dalton Highway

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The James W. Dalton Highway, usually Dalton Highway (Alaska Route 11) is a 414-mile (666 km) 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. The road was formerly gravel for its entire length, but a long-term paving project is nearly half completed.

The highway and pipeline run generally parallel to each other; this segment is between the Arctic Circle and Coldfoot.

It is named for James Dalton, an Alaska-born engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and, as an expert in Arctic engineering, served as consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska.

The Dalton Highway should not be confused with the Dalton Trail, a trail in southeastern Alaska used by Tlingit and early gold prospectors.

Sign at Deadhorse

The highway, which directly parallels the pipeline, is one of the most isolated roads in Alaska. There are no towns; the few settlements are truck stops. The 240 miles (384 km) from Coldfoot to Deadhorse have no services for travelers at all. Though the highway comes to within a few miles of the Arctic Ocean, beyond Deadhorse are private roads owned by oil companies, and public access is restricted.

Places along the Dalton Highway

The E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge carries the highway over the Yukon River north of Fairbanks.

• Mile 73 (Km 118) Elliott Highway, mile 0 (km 0)
• TAPS Pump Station No. 6, mile 54 (km 87)
• E. L. Patton Yukon River bridge (at right), mile 55 (km 90)
• Arctic Circle, mile 115 (km 185)
• Prospect Creek, site of the lowest recorded temperature in the United States, mile 135 (km 217)
• TAPS Pump Station No. 5, mile 137 (km 221)
• Coldfoot, mile 175 (km 282)
• Wiseman, mile 188 (km 304)
• Continental Divide (Atigun Pass, elevation 4,800ft/1,463m), mile 245 (km 394)
• TAPS Pump Station No. 4, mile 269 (km 433)
• TAPS Pump Station No. 3, mile 312 (km 502)
• TAPS Pump Station No. 2, mile 359 (km 577)
• Deadhorse, mile 414 (km 666)

See also

• List of Alaska Routes

External links

• [Dalton Highway Photo Journey]
• [Alaska Adventure]
• [Bicycling the Dalton Highway]

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