Annie Lake Road — Whitehorse to Annie Lake and Canyon Creek Basin

Most overlanders blow through Whitehorse chasing the Dempster or the Top of the World, but Annie Lake Road is right there — an accessible, honest backcountry drive that starts just south of the city and works its way into the Canyon Creek basin through rolling spruce hills and wetland flats. The road surface is mixed gravel and clay, and the clay sections turn slick and treacherous when wet, with high-centred ruts from previous traffic hardened into axle-busting ridges when dry. Annie Lake itself sits at around 900 metres, clear and cold, surrounded by the kind of quiet you drove all the way up here for. Local pilots use the area; keep an eye out for aircraft on the lake in summer.

Rated moderate — this is an honest beginner-to-intermediate route. A stock 4WD with decent ground clearance handles it in dry conditions; wet conditions push it into difficult territory quickly. The road is roughly 30 km and does not require a permit. Best from June through September. Fuel in Whitehorse. Cell service drops out within the first several kilometres. There is a small territorial campsite at Annie Lake; dispersed camping on the surrounding Crown land is also an option. A solid shakedown route before heading north into more serious Yukon territory.