Tuktoyaktuk All-Season Highway — Inuvik to the Arctic Ocean

Highway 10 — the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway — opened in November 2017 as the first all-season public road to reach the Arctic Ocean in Canada, ending the community of Tuktoyaktuk’s century-long dependence on winter ice roads. The 137-kilometre route follows the Mackenzie Delta eastward before climbing onto the coastal plain, crossing permafrost terrain that demanded an engineered gravel berm to insulate the ground beneath. The Caribou Creek bridge at roughly km 50 is the significant engineered crossing; north of there the tundra opens flat and enormous, and you start seeing caribou, muskox, and beluga whales offshore if the timing is right. Rolling into Tuk and walking down to touch the Arctic Ocean is a genuine bucket-list moment — dip your hand in and you’ve driven to the top of North America.

The highway is gravel from end to end — washboard is relentless and rock chips are brutal on glass; a good windshield protector and spare tire matter. Stock high-clearance trucks handle it fine in summer, though the road can be impassable during extreme freeze-thaw events in shoulder seasons. Fuel is available in Inuvik and Tuk; stock up in Inuvik regardless. No camping in Tuk without permission, but dispersed camping on Crown land south of the community is possible. Open year-round, but summer (June–September) is the practical window for most overland rigs.