Dalton Highway Mile 0 — Elliott Highway Junction near Livengood

This is where the Elliott Highway forks. Hang a right and you’re on the Dalton, Mile 0, a gravel haul road that follows the Trans-Alaska Pipeline north toward the Arctic Circle and Prudhoe Bay. Stay left and the Elliott keeps rolling west for roughly 80 more miles to Manley Hot Springs. There’s a pipeline-corridor feel to the whole area, with big spruce and birch hills, old placer-mining country, and a handful of folks living out here year-round near Livengood. Don’t expect services at the junction itself.

Fill up and stock up in Fairbanks before you push this far. The Dalton’s first real fuel and food stop is up at the Yukon River crossing, so check current hours and fuel availability before you count on it. Heavy trucks own the Dalton, so run with your lights on and give them the whole road. Cell service is basically gone out here. Download your maps ahead of time, carry a full-size spare, and tell somebody your plan.

Have a dirty day.

Where the Elliott ends and the Dalton begins.