Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, British Columbia, CanadaLiard River / Hotsprings
Through the forest to Watson Lake
This morning we got up a bit earlier
than the last days – and then we set out for the first 3 hours of driving:
towards Watson Lake – this part of the Alcan we drove before so we checked out
all the spots we wanted to explore. Beautiful sunshine and blue sky goes with
us as we drive through the endless forest. We did had to stop at one time to
clean our windows – like always we pick up a lot of flies!!!
At one time we had to do a detour –
and as we follow the pilot car Gine said here was once an overnight spot but
they said the lake is not there anymore and really we couldn’t believe it, the
lake is dried out.
Watched by a wolf
And as we drive along Paul stopped and
said there is a wolf – and he was right: on a little side road is a wolf
standing in the middle of the road watching us, then he heads on to the side
and keeps an eye on us.
The historic Airport Terminal
Gine read that here is a historic
flight hanger and airport terminal from WWII, which was part of the Northwest
Staging route and so we drove on the other side of Watson lake: here the open
area is super beautiful and it would be perfect for an overnight stay if there
wouldn’t be signs everywhere: no overnight staying/camping. We enjoyed the view
on the lake.
- Watson Lake airstrip was developed in the 1930s as the planes needed a fuelstop when they delivered mail from Edmonton and Vancouver to Whitehorse
- In 1939 the Canadian Government planned a series of airports for the Northwest Staging Route
- By 1941 US airplanes were ferried through here from Montana to Alaska and the airport became almost completely US operated for the lend-lease miision – when Russian pilots collected the planes in Alaska and flew them over Siberio to their own front lines
- In 1946 the Royal Canadian Air force took over the airport – it became federal in 1957 and is now ownded by the Yukon government
- The operation building and control tower got built in 1942 when it became a major refuelling station for the US crews – a typical WWII terminal
- The old military hanger was built by the US Army and was the first large military hanger built along the Alaska Highway. It is also the last military hanger of its type in Canada
And no - the lake is closed
Next stop is Visitor info where Gine
picked up some info about the northern lights (lets hope the 80% change for
tonight works out), and our on-tour. Also the lady told her about Lucky Lake
Rec site and the lake and how amazing it is for swimming – perfect it is hot
today – I guess we know where we will spend the rest of the day. Ok no such
luck – as the gate is closed – ok so let’s keep going and we hope that we find
soon a nice river spot. The drive down to the first river was too steep for us…
all what this means is we are getting further south and into the warm.
Bisons on the road
The lady in the visitor info told Gine
that there are Bisons on the road and there are signs – and we thought it is
like always lots of signs and no animals, so we were surprised when we suddenly
saw a whole bunch of them relaxing along the road – now that was super cool.
- The wood buffalo or Bison is the largest animal in the Northern Rockies with up to 2000 lbs
Good Bye Yukon:
As we drive along here the road goes
in and out of the Yukon and into BC and Gine said – Paul what do you think how
often on our trip did we actually go into the Yukon????
- We enter via the Cassiar Hwy
- We exit and enter along the Alaskan Hwy on the way to Teslin
- Back via the Haines Highway
- We enter from Chicken Alaska over the top of the world highway
- We come back from the NWT on the Dempster Highway
- We access Atlin in BC and come back to the Yukon
- We go along the Alaska Hwy leave after Teslin and return by Swift river
- After Watson lake comes the official entry to the Yukon
- Unofficial entry via Alaska Hwy from BC
- And one more unofficial entry via Alaska Hwy BC
Good bye Yukon
“It’s the beauty that thrills me with
wonder – it’s the stills that fills me with peace” – from the Spell of the
Yukon
“The road less travelled is the road
best travelled”
Yes, we did see a lot of this beauty “Imagine
where your wheels can take you on the road” and when looking at the map we
only saw a tiny part – as recommended we did set our GPS for adventure and wind
along scenic roads – encountered breathtaking vistas, they divide the Yukon in
8 different regions – six of them we did explore, so which did we see and what
did we like:
- Liard: “Follow the signs and see where they take you”: we didn’t leave our mark in the Sign post in Watsons lake – but we did visited the town – and even already in BC we enjoyed the Liard Hot Springs
- Southern Lakes: “An endless loop of picturesque exploration” – if there is one regret and it is that we didn’t take more time on this golden route: we loved Carcross with the cute old town, the beautiful lake and the dessert, the drive towards to Skagway with a stop at Emerald lake and over the White Pass is one of the most beautiful drives we ever did and the drive back via the Haines Highway was another spectacular unusual scenery.
- Whitehorse: “Fall in love with the Wilderness city”: we can’t really say that we did, but we came here twice to do our shopping to head out into the Wilderness – we did like the transportation museum, we loved to camp near the SS Klondike and we liked the Miles Canyon.
- Kluane: “A legacy left by and ice age”: we loved the Kluane Lake – we were in awe flying over the glaciers and standing on the glacier in front of Mount Logan: this is one of the highlights on our Trip
- Klondike: “Iconic gold rush history” – we liked Dawson City in the mud and in the dust, we loved the Yukon River and exploring around the old gold rush area
- Northern & Arctic: “Where the sun never sets” ok this is another one of the top highlights within our trip Driving the Dempster Highway – experiencing the wilderness of the north, arriving at the Arctic Ocean.
- Silver Trail: “Discover the other ‘rush’”: after seeing so much about mining and old mining towns we decided to skip it – as we can’t see it all
- Campbell: “a true off-the-beaten-path-adventure”: we didn’t drive the Canol Road as we thought by then we did enough gravel, saw enough mountains and camped at enough lakes
That bets the question what did we not
like in the Yukon: the mosquitos and tiny bugs!!! They are really annoying.
We also discovered here, that we
always have to plan you can’t only go – you have to plan on when you can go
shopping next time, for how long will the water supply in the truck last, where
are the gas stations… you always need to plan ahead to enjoy it.
Coffee at Allens Lookout
It’s time for coffee and no we are
still not on a lake or on a river: so we stop at Allens Lookout rest area –
from here you can walk and have a great view on the Liard River – deep below
us,
Soon after we see a road going out
towards the River – so we drive down and check it out: looks nearly perfect
except there is a lot of sand and we are not sure if the pickup and camper is
not too heavy – that would be really stupid to be stuck here… so better on the
save side and we keep going.
Rapids and Whirlpools
We stop at a pullout and from here we
have a great view on the Cranberry Rapids of the Liard River. Then comes the
Whirlpool Canyon: we drive down and end up in a dead end road, already another
couple is here and as we go to check it out: you do have a great view on the
whirlpools and they do look cool – but it is nearly impossible to go to the
river as the rocks are rough and there is so much drift wood – ok let’s keep
going.
Blackbears near the road
We must be back in BC, because here
you can see the wild animals, as we drive we can see a Mama black bear with her
cup – sure we stop and watch them until they decide it’s time to leave…
The campsite behind the airstrip on
the river
As we move on we have some amazing
views on the Liard River. Gine found on the IOVerlander another spot, a lot of
people like and call it the best campsite along the Alaskan Highway and the
description says you have to drive over an airstrip – so when the turn off
comes Paul is a bit confused as there is no sign airstrip – but then we
discover that this is a super old airstrip – or was at one time (I really don’t
think that planes are still landing here) – we pull out and have an amazing
view on the river: only downside we are on top of a cliff and it is like nearly
impossible to go down: we sit in the shade enjoy the views and later once the
sun goes down a bit we enjoy the last sunrays until the mosquitos chase us
inside. What a beautiful view.
- The Liard River is a major northern river and getst he water of the eastern slopes of the Rockies and then flows across the plains o fBC into the Mackenzie River
Morning walk on the airstrip
After getting up – and waking up with
a coffee Mandy decided it is time for a walk and today we walk to the
“Airstrip” – it would be so cool to know when it was used the last time and
what for. Once we are back we relax in
the sunshine and enjoy our coffee and are so proud that Mandy sits so nicely
along the cliff until we discover that she tangled up her leash and couldn’t
move forward and she waited patiently for us to untangle her.
The Smith River Falls
Our first stop is back 10 km on the
Alaska Highway and then a 2.4 km long narrow gravel road with pot holes – we
were glad that no-one came out as it would be impossible to pass another
vehicle here and I’m sure neither would be happy to backtrack… Paul said he
wonders why they built a road (by the way it is a BC PP) and once we arrive at
the “Parking lot” we already have amazing views on those super cool waterfalls
– this was worth coming. Ok hiking shoes on, we bring the poles and some water
and then head down: ok it is super cool that they put in steps but they are not
Gine-appropriate. Once the steps are gone it still goes down steep until we are
down by the river: then along the river and we stand and have a closer look at
them – super cool.
We camp at Liard Hot Spring PP
Driving with some views on the liard
River we arrive at the PP and decided to stay for a night: as we would pay 10 $
day fee and 26 $ for camping and unlimited going in – also tomorrow morning. We
got a site fairly close to the boardwalk which is cool. And as we check in we
meet again the Mexican family which we saw now several times on our trip – who
knows maybe we catch up again in Jasper….
By the way the Park is surrounded by
electric fence and has huge cattle grids to drive in – I guess they are really
worried about the bears and the bisons.
- Liard Hotsprings PP is the first BC park with an electric fence surrounding the entire campground, day use and parking
- With all the berries and rich vegetaion this is a prime bear habitat and to protect bears to become habituated to humans the 8 ft electric fence was built – to reduce wildlife-human interaction
- The electrical current pulsated and even the voltage is high the current is low and delivers an unpleasant expierence to the wildlife without any harm – it teaches wildlife to stay away
- By the way: do not touch the fence to check if it is working
What is so special about this Hot
springs??
- The water in the hotsprings has a mineral content of over 1000 parts per million, most is calcium carbonate picked up from underground limestone: this hard water results in interesting vegetation and rock formations
- Most algae are soft but chara is made of firmer stuff it takes Calcium carbonate from the water and builts it into its cell walls giving it a crunchy texture and it grows at the edge of the pools and in dense floating mats near the surface
- As the water cools off in shallow areas it deposits calcium carbonates and everything gets coated in layers of sediment forming a lumpy bumpy rock called tafu
- Physa is a small freshwater snail and is only found in one place on earth: here – there little shells are between 3-9 mm, the snails eat Chara and other wetland plants, they need water from 23-40 C year around
- The first nations and then the fur trader already visited the hot springs, the American Army built the first boardwalk in 1942 during the construction of the Alaska Highway
- The temperatures in the Alpha pool range from 36 – 52 C year around
- The hot water also increases the surrounding air temperature by 2 C so other plants normally not growing that far north can grow here
- The Liard Hot springs are unique as they drain into a series of Marshes a unique wetland that does not freeze – besides the chara plant also ferns and orchids grow here
- Moose are drawn to the swamp vegetation to eat the aquatic plants which are richer than land plants in essential minerals
- The French canadian voyageur named it liargd for the poplarliard that line the banks of the lower riverBecause the ferns and the cow-parsnip grow so tall here they gave the area the name: the Liard Tropical Valley
- The Liard Hot springs are the 2nd largest known thermal spring complex in Canada with 6 springs feeding into different pools and streams that drain into the Marsh – around 120-130l per second of hot water flow through here
Hot Springs #1
Setting up – a quick drink and snack
and we are eager to check out the hotsprings – ok, since we didn’t know it
better we brought to much staff with us: it is around a 10 Min walk on a
boardwalk with some cool views on the Marsh area with a slight sulphur smell –
and then it goes into a forest and the plants become a bit more tropical.
Once there you have two pools: that
means the river is blocked off, so it makes a natural pool and you have some
super cool green plants around the outside – the other pool is way to hot for
Gine – so we went right away into the lower pool – there you can also go into a
little side channel underneath plants and at the end is a little waterfall – a
bit creepy and the further back you go the cooler it gets.
After we are super hot we go out for a
bit – but with the hot sun it is nearly impossible to cool down.
After coffee Hot springs #2
We come back to our campsite for
coffee and some relax time – being in the hot springs makes tired and after a
nice long break we walk back again and this time spend a good half hour in the
pools before we need to cool off to head back.
Supper and Gine did a all good things
are 3
As the sun sets it gets cooler so
after supper Gine said she will go again – and this time it is so much cooler,
that you can really enjoy the hot springs. I mean soon we must be so healthy
with all the hotsprings we are visiting. And I’m sure we are sleeping like
babies tonight.
One last time the hotsprings
After coffee we walked over to the
hotsprings to enjoy the healing hot waters one more time. We loved staying in
here and get all hot and warm and this early in the morning you could see the
hot air above the water and as you see the steam coming towards you – you knew
that the hot water will come to you too. We met again our Mexican friends and
told them good bye – who knows maybe we will meet them again one time. They are
heading towards Jasper/Banff and then down the East Coast and will ship to
Argentinia.
2025-05-22