The Dempster Highway near Dawson City, Yukon, will close on Monday, March 23, 2026, so crews can perform essential avalanche safety work. The shutdown is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. to allow maintenance teams to clear unstable snow from mountain slopes.
According to 511 Yukon, the closure affects the Ogilvie Section between kilometre 195 and kilometre 226. Workers will use controlled explosions to trigger and remove snow from steep hillsides, which is a standard safety measure during the spring thaw.
The Ogilvie Mountains section features vertical slopes that are prone to sliding as temperatures rise. The highway travels through remote wilderness and high mountain ranges where snowpack conditions often become unstable in late March.
The Dempster Highway is a vital link for the region, serving as Canada’s only all-season public road that crosses the Arctic Circle. It stretches over 730 kilometres from its junction near Dawson City to Inuvik and is the primary route for moving food, fuel, and supplies to northern communities.
The Yukon government included the route in the Yukon Resource Gateway Project in 2025 to improve year-round reliability. These efforts focus on long-term safety, including better ways to manage rockfalls and avalanches along the gravel road.
