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The
Canol Heritage Trail
Backpacking with History
©
Outdoor Adventure Canada
The Canol Heritage Trail is a interesting area
which has the best of everything, wildlife, history, remoteness
and adventure.
Concern sets the stage back in December
of 1941. Dreadful news was reported after the attack of Pearl
Harbor and again in June of 1942 when the Aleutian Islands were
attacked by the Japanese. US forces were repeatedly losing battles
in the pacific. This made the United States and Canadian government
very uneasy as the "islands" are uncomfortably close
to Alaska. Fearing that an attack through this relatively unprotected
border was becoming a reality a grand plan was conceived to build
the Alaskan Canadian highway so supplies and equipment could be
sent to Alaska to thwart a possible attack.
You may be wondering what role these events played
in the creation of the Canol Heritage Trail. The execution of
such an immense project as the construction of the ALCAN Highway
and protection of an undefended border consumes an incredible
amount of fuel for machinery and war vehicles. The concept of
creating a 600 mile pipeline to carry crude oil from an area near
the Arctic Circle to a refinery at Whitehorse was born. The pipeline
was to run through one of the most difficult, harsh, unforgiving
and breathtakingly beautiful areas in the world.
To build the pipeline, the CANOL (Canadian Oil)
Road had to be literally chiseled out of the countryside. The
road and pipeline were constructed and then decommissioned in
approximately 3 years. 300 million dollars was spent and 30,000
people were employed in this engineering feat. The pipeline was
used for less than one year and was abandoned when the Japanese
lost its grip on the Aleutian Islands.
 The
Canol Heritage Trail section of the Canol Road which runs from
Macmillan Pass to Norman Wells and is over 200 miles in length.
Don't be fooled, the trail is extremely remote. You will travel
across the plains of the Mackenzie River valley, through some
mountainous areas and over the Mackenzie mountain barrens to the
continental divide. There are several river crossings that you
will have to contend with. The bridges have been long washed out
and the deep, fast flowing frigid water make them challenging
and treacherous.
Expect to see first hand the rich history of this
wonderful adventure. See how Mother Nature has taken back what
belonged to her so long ago. There are many cabins, military structures,
trucks and other interesting memorabilia left from the past but
the earth is slowly claiming them. I wouldn't recommend staying
in any of the buildings as your safety could be at risk.
The trail itself is not difficult to follow; however,
there are some landslide areas that you will have to pass through
adding to the difficulty. Bears are prevalent and extreme caution
must be exercised. Bear proof food barrels are recommended as
well as pepper spray. Weather can also be a concern as extreme
fluctuations are not uncommon so expect for the best but pack
for the worst.
 We
cannot stress enough that experience, self-preparedness and planning
are key when traveling to this gem. When you are there you will
be completely alone in extremely difficult areas to reach. If
you have to be rescued you will have to pick up the tab which
will run into the thousands of dollars.
For those planning on doing the entire trail,
air food drops can be arranged by local outfitters as well as
guides and charters.
Special thanks
to Northwest
Territories, Industry, Tourism and Investment for allowing
me to use their photos of the Canol Heritage Trail.
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please view the archives.
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