Alaska Highway sidetrips shouldn't be missed

Not a lot of Alaska Highway travelers make it to Atlin, British Columbia. That's a shame, really, because Atlin is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in the entire world. It's a side trip that will take at least a day out of your schedule--two days are better; then you can stay overnight. It is well worth the time.

To get there, you turn south off of the Alaska Highway at Jake's Crystal Palace, about 40 minutes or so south of Whitehorse, Yukon. The road goes a short distance and splits. To the right are Tagish and Carcross, Atlin is to the left, about 60 miles. Some 35 of those miles are gravel road. About 20 miles down the road you will cross from Yukon into British Columbia. The only way to drive to this BC town is to first drive into Yukon.

Like most towns in the region, Atlin began as a mining town, and there is still a lot of active mining going on in the region. The big attraction, though, is the lake, one of the largest in Canada. For fishers, it is filled with lake trout, grayling and northern pike. For sightseers, the setting is simply stunning. This particular photo of an abandoned boat was taken just minutes after sunset on an evening in late August.