Want to see what’s at the end of the road?  Here are a few places you can drive to the end of the road in the Northwest Territories.

The Inuvik-Tuk Highway stretches 140 km to Tuktoyaktuk, at the end of the road on the Arctic Coast. This highway opened in November 2017 and is the only public road in North America that takes visitors to the Arctic Ocean.  This trip will be the perfect addition for those who have driven the historic Dempster Highway, from Dawson City to the Town of Inuvik.

Starting at the Alberta/NWT border, Highway 1 ends abruptly at Wrigley, a small community (pop. 113) on the banks of the Mackenzie River. The only service along the river is a ferry at the N’Dulee Crossing. If you are looking for a scenic day trip and have a sturdy vehicle for the gravel road, you might want to drive the 222 km drive between Fort Simpson and Wrigley, the northernmost Dehcho Dene community. There are no accommodations or food services in Wrigley, but the community is scenic and serene. Future plans call for the extension of this road to Norman Wells.

Highway 4, also known as the Ingraham Trail, passes through camping and cottage country and then abruptly ends at Tibbett Lake…. except in winter, when the diamond mines on the barrens construct a private winter road to allow truck resupply to their mines. This road was part of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s plan to build a road around Great Slave Lake.

Highway 5, also known as the Wood Buffalo Route, takes you to the community of Fort Smith (pop. 2,451) and Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest National Park in North America. Of special interest along this route, are the golf course in Fort Smith, the Salt Plains and bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, white water rafting and kayaking on the Slave River, and pelicans at the Slave River rapids.

Highway 6 offers another end of the road drive, with Fort Resolution, a small Chipewyan community (pop. 514) on Great Slave Lake, anchoring the end of the 150 km route from Hay River. This road bypasses the former mining town of Pine Point. When the mine closed all of the buildings were moved, leaving only mysterious, empty, weed-filled paved streets.