Ferry closure forces Dempster Highway adventurers to change plans

Siqi Guo, a traveller from Ottawa, had been hearing about the Dempster Highway for years. This year she finally made the trip. only to find the ferry at the Peel River inoperative.

The closure of the ferry, part of the only highway linking the NWT’s Beaufort Delta with Yukon and the rest of Canada, has forced Guo to hastily alter a trip she had been planning for more than half a year. 

“It’s always been one of my dreams to come here and drive this road myself,” she said.

Guo made it to Eagle Plains, where she was checking into her hotel, when she noticed an announcement posted on the wall informing visitors of the ferry closure.

“I immediately felt that it was a bad sign, but we never expected it. It was so serious,” she said.

High water levels have suspended the Peel River ferry’s operations for days. The situation was further complicated on Sunday when the ferry’s cable snapped, allowing it to drift downriver before being retrieved.

Lines of travellers have formed on either side of the crossing, just south of Fort McPherson.

The Dempster Highway is a gravel road that stretches from Dawson City in the Yukon to Inuvik, becoming the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway for the final stretch to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. The Dempster is the only public highway in Canada that crosses the Arctic Circle, making it a popular destination for adventurers.

Like many, Guo planned to reach Inuvik and then Tuktoyaktuk. With the ferry closed, she said that goal is now out of reach.

“We had to cancel our hotel booking for two days in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. We’ll have to change our whole travel plan.” she said.

“Of course we are disappointed,” said Guo, who has to fly back to Ottawa on Friday. She has now returned to Dawson City and spent some time in Tombstone Provincial Park, trying to salvage the trip.

“I will come back one day,” she said.

A fair price

While the ferry itself is not operational, some travellers found they could employ the help of locals offering rides on boats of their own.

Mathew Smedley managed to complete the crossing. Smedley, approaching the latter half of his trip by motorcycle, was making his way down from Inuvik when he first caught wind of the ferry closure. 

“It was a little disconcerting when we were initially just waiting for the river to recede. When the cable broke, that changed the whole picture,” said Smedley, who made the trip down to the river despite knowing the ferry wasn’t running. 

Smedley planned on finding community members in the area who were using their boats to transport people across the river. “I was going to just try my luck and see,” he said, describing touring the community and asking if anyone had a boat. 

On day two at the river, he was able to arrange a crossing. 

Typically, the Peel River ferry is free of charge. A boat ride from a resident cost Smedley $200, which he says he was happy to pay. 

“I feel like it’s a fair price. Having to stay another week there, I would have paid more than that just in campground fees just to hang out, so it was worth it for sure,” he said.

Though it’s a hiccup in his trip, Smedley said this wasn’t unexpected.

“If people are planning to travel up there, there may be issues like this, right? It’s way off the beaten path,” he said. 

The territorial government has published occasional updates about the ferry on Facebook. Many travellers have used Facebook groups dedicated to the Dempster Highway to try to find out more.

A user by the name of SamsonLTD first posted on July 4 about the closure and has since published updates on the situation.

SamsonLTD appears to drive commercial trucks. Samson, who declined to provide his first name when reached by Cabin Radio, described witnessing the ferry drift away, 

“My first thought was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Watching your only ride across the river drift down the current takes the cake. It hits you pretty fast that you aren’t going anywhere any time soon,” said Samson in a message.

He said a few truck drivers had turned around, while others had waited more than 50 hours. He said the Peel River was “flowing fast, muddy, and swollen with high water.”

The river level had dropped slightly as of early Tuesday, a nearby hydrometric station reported, though it remained above levels at which the ferry was shut down earlier this summer. Whether the ferry itself, the MV Abraham Francis, requires significant repair work after drifting away on Sunday is not clear.

No timeline for the ferry to reopen has been given.

“There aren’t a lot of options unless you have a smaller vehicle and you’re willing to hire one of the locals with their personal boats,” Samson said.

“Out here, getting mad doesn’t build bridges or fix cables, so we make another coffee and simply just wait.”