r/overlanding • u/DolphLundgren73 • Aug 16 '26
Photo Album The Canol Road
Drove the Canol Road (North) from Ross River, Yukon to Mile 222 in the Northwest Territories.
Beautiful but challenging drive. Blew a rear tire fording a creek. Broke the passenger mirror backing out of a trail. Needed the jerry cans to reach and return.
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u/LowHangingFruit20 Aug 16 '26
Stan Rogers has a great song about a dude escaping the law on Canol Road, aptly named-Canol Road. Worth a listen
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u/PoliticalAnimal87 Aug 17 '26
i saw the post and was going to post the same thing, great song, proper banger
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u/Educational-Mood1145 Aug 16 '26
Awesome Xterra, and looks like a badass trip! Every scratch/break just forms memories. Hell my Armada has been running the same broken mirror for 7 years now. I can still see...sorta 😂
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
Luckily it was just the mirror glass. Just ordered a replacement. 48 bucks. I still have to wash and see if I have scratches.
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u/MustachedBaby Aug 16 '26
Real fucking cool pictures. Love the XTerra. Feel like I've been seeing a resurgence of them.
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u/xhephaestusx Aug 17 '26
They promised a new body on frame xterra, I guess the head of development there is an old school xterra fan
Love mind, stock with steps removed and no locker it's amazing where she goes, I just added a dif breather kit and thats all
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u/Maintenancehaul Back Country Adventurer Aug 16 '26
Somewhere or another I have a picture of the yellow truck from years ago.
Had four Jerry cans, and two spare tires.
Definitely a challenge and definitely worth it
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u/mekoRascal Aug 16 '26
I took my motorcycle down that years ago.
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u/ScaryfatkidGT Aug 16 '26
How far? Do the random airstrips have gas or????
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u/mekoRascal Aug 16 '26
I went to the washed out bridge in the NWT. Last fuel was in Ross River, it wasn't a 24 hour pump, so I had to wait for them to open in the morning.
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u/ScaryfatkidGT Aug 16 '26
How far past 222 was that?
I just researched this a bunch lol… wonder if a vehicle could make it to the Godlin Lakes outfitters camp…
I was considering buying a R1150 or R1200 GS Adventure and riding it to Prudo bay… then I saw this post…
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u/mekoRascal Aug 16 '26
It was years ago, so I'm not exactly sure. It was a bit over 140 miles out from Ross River. I took a small gas can with me and was glad to have it. The Canol Road is definitely worth the drive, I'd also recommend the Dempster Highway as an alternative to Haul road. It doesn't get the commercial traffic going to the oilfield, so it's a lot more easy-going.
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u/chronicinfusions Back Country Adventurer Aug 16 '26
That's awesome!! How long did it take? Is there only the one fuel station in Ross River?
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
I just did an overnighter. Took 7 or so hours up and then same down with stops. Camped night prior at Lapie campground at Ross River and then at Lake Sheldon on way down. Yes, Ross River is the only fuel up. They have a credit machine for the fuel pumps, so you can fuel up at any hour. Could have easily done more night stays, but this was just one leg of my trip. Did the Dempster up to Tuktoyaktuk prior and headed to Kluane after. Road is rough after 20 km or so. Can only average 50 km/h. They have graded the road from Macmillan airstrip to the turn off to the Mactung Mine/Fireweed Mining camp near the upper end.
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u/chronicinfusions Back Country Adventurer Aug 16 '26
Thanks!! We're thinking of doing the Dempster and parts of Alaska next year from Southern Alberta. This would be a nice addition. We drive a hybrid Rav4, so I'm less concerned with fuel constraints. Clearance, technicality, and lack of 4X are always a concern. It's lifted, so we're just shy of 12", but approach and departure aren't great compared to the Xterra.
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
I drove the Canol in 2WD - only flipped on the 4WD when I was fording a few times (you may not need to ford - depends on rain). Also - 2WD uses less fuel, so you would want it on sparingly. Going slower with stop starts due to ruts and holes in road really affects the fuel economy,which is why you need jerry can(s). This will still impact a hybrid. Your Rav4 will be fine. There are only a few sections where the middle part of the road is high requiring clearance, but you can skirt around if need be. I think 12 inches is good enough.
You MUST have a Starlink Mini. It allows your regular phone text messages to go through, and you can use Whatsapp to do calls. There were only 3 other vehicles on the road that whole day, so if something goes wrong you will have serious issues without it. I had a Bluetti Charger 1 powering a Bluetti powerstation which my fridge and Starlink were connected to. You can however, connect direct to your battery, but I would only connect/turn it on when using to protect your starter battery. Charger/Powerstation is a better setup. Bonus with it always on - Android Auto/Google Navigation worked all the time.
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u/chronicinfusions Back Country Adventurer Aug 16 '26
Yeah, Starlink is definitely on the short list of things to get. I've got a Garmin GPSMap 67i with text plan, SOS, and all that, but it's nice to still have connection. Android Auto is a good perk so you can have your tunes kickin! Haha. We can go 5-6 days without connecting solar panels on our current setup with the Jackery 2000. Same idea as the Bluetti. I've got a rotopax mounted on the swingout tire carrier, so I could bring a fuel tank as a precaution. I've always just mounted the 2gal water jug on it, since we get close to 700km on a tank. Thanks for the tips! I can't wait to get up there.
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
I was looking at the Garmins or possibly renting a sat phone, but the cost of the Starlink mini was more manageable - mind you, they get you with the monthly. You can put it in standby mode, which is a low cost when you are not using. Everyone and their uncle up in the Yukon have them. Every car you pass you see it on the dash. I mounted mine on the roof and ran power cable through the rear hatch.
I needed just under 600 km worth of fuel. I have a 80 L tank. My jerry cans gave me an extra 40 L. Fully loaded I was averaging 410 km, extra gave me 615 km. Xterras arent fuel efficient and I have heavy gear, so your mileage will vary.
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u/ykphil Aug 16 '26
Nice trip! I just flew from Norman Wells to Mile 222 airstrip a few weeks ago and spent 3 days at Dechenla Lodge for work. Hiking around the area is breathtaking, but I wish I could have had my van and drive towards the wells or south to Ross River.
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
They need to have a rental available at that strip. I believe Fireweed and the Yukon Gov will be upgrading the road at some point the entire length. Will make it easier to get up there quicker and spend more time hking.
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u/Remarkable_Scallion Aug 16 '26
https://youtu.be/bMBiKcmKyq0?si=1Esa7LavvlKiUvmI
Love this song.
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u/clean-links Aug 16 '26
Cleaned link: https://youtu.be/bMBiKcmKyq0
Tracking parameters were removed from the original URL(s).
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u/capnheim Aug 16 '26
Thanks for sharing. It’s amazing how remote you can get once you are up north.
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u/thefras Aug 16 '26
Congratulations!. Did the South and north section of Canol Rd. during the summer of 2025 in a Subaru Outback right after finishing the Dempster. Amazing drive - especially the north section. Not to be taken lightly though. North Road not maintained and lots of places where youre crossing water. Love your pictures and brought back great memories.
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 16 '26
I was going to do the south, but didn’t want to tackle without the spare. Is it in better conditio?
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u/thefras Sep 11 '26
South was better condition. I did the south first to Ross River and then tackled the north. The North definitely had rougher sections. Got a small leak in one back tire on my way back and had to stop every 30 minutes to refill the tire... But I enjoyed every minute of it.
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u/iNeedsInspiration Aug 16 '26
Jelly! I wanted to drive this road on my trip but my plans changed when I had to pick up a friend in Whitehorse. My plans was to camp near Quiet Lake. Beautiful photos!
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u/Petrichord Aug 17 '26
Dope! I only had time to dip into the NWT to Fort Liard when I was up there. Will have to go back
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u/pzfus Aug 18 '26
Great pictures, thanks for sharing. Trekked the whole route from Norman Wells to Yukon border on foot in the summer of 1990 with ration drops every 50-60km. Nearly lost one of our group crossing one of the rivers. We had a blizzard about 5 days in, but didn’t see many bears on the route. It looks like the paint on the abandoned trucks at the pumping stations hasn’t faded much since we passed through.
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u/DolphLundgren73 Aug 19 '26
Hard core. I mountain biked a short distance with a group while doing a research trip at Mile 222 in 96 - only went 30-40 km in and called it a day. I'd love to do the full length to/from Norman, but it looks like too much work now, lol. Good job. It appears they did clean up starting in 2018, so all the old pipe and phone line wires have been removed. I think the trucks moved positions. Seemed different, but it has been awhile.
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Aug 17 '26
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u/clean-links Aug 17 '26
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u/lostinthe530 Aug 18 '26
Awesome adventure! Not so sure about the unimproved boat launch/creek ford in the pictures though.
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u/LengthinessOk5241 Overlander Aug 16 '26
The Canol Road is one of the best road I’ve driven. Lucky you did it without rain!