Mackenzie Highway

For the US highway known as the McKenzie Highway, see Oregon Route 126. For the highway in British Columbia, see British Columbia Highway 39.

The Mackenzie Highway is a Canadian highway in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It begins as Alberta Highway 2 at Mile Zero in Grimshaw, Alberta. After the first 4.0 km (2.5 mi), it becomes Alberta Highway 35 for the balance of its length through Alberta and then becomes Northwest Territories Highway 1.

Mackenzie Highway
Alberta Highway 35 Northwest Territories Highway 1
Mackenzie Highway highlighted in red.
Route information
Length	1,160 km (720 mi)
Alberta
Length	469 km (291 mi)
South end	Highway 2A in Grimshaw
Major intersections	Highway 2 near Grimshaw Highway 986 near Grimshaw Highway 697 near Paddle Prairie Highway 58 at High Level
Northwest Territories
Length	690 km (430 mi)
Major intersections	Highway 2 at Enterprise Highway 3 near Fort Providence Highway 7 near Fort Simpson
North end	Wrigley
Location
Country	Canada
Highway system
Alberta Provincial Highway Network List Former
Northwest Territories highways
← Highway 33 → Highway 36 ← Highway 10 → Highway 2

Route description

The Mackenzie Highway is designated as part of Canada's National Highway System, holding core route status from its terminus at Grimshaw to its intersection with the Yellowknife Highway, and northern/remote route status for the remainder of the route to its northern terminus at Wrigley.

Originally begun in 1938, prior to World War II, the project was abandoned at the outbreak of war. It resumed in the late 1940s and completed to Hay River, Northwest Territories, in 1948/1949, but some sections, particularly in the vicinity of Steen River, remained difficult.

In 1960, it was extended from Enterprise, approximately 39 km (24 mi) south of Hay River, to the northwest, then north past Fort Providence to Behchokǫ̀ (at the time, known as Rae-Edzo) and southeast to the City of Yellowknife, which became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. Much of the extension is now known as Northwest Territories Highway 3, or the Yellowknife Highway. The 39 km (24 mi) stretch from Enterprise to Hay River is Northwest Territories Highway 2.

Around 1970, the highway was extended west from what is now the southern terminus of Highway 3 to reach Fort Simpson, and in 1971, when the section to Fort Simpson was opened to traffic, work began to prepare a road grade from there to Wrigley, but the work was abandoned. The roadway, which starts at a junction 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the island that includes "downtown" Fort Simpson, was finally opened in 1994 and includes the N'dulee ferry and ice crossings.

On November 8, 2013, the portion of the highway from the Alberta/Northwest Territories border to Enterprise was designated the Highway of Heroes.

There are social and economic studies being done on the extension of the highway north from Wrigley to join the Dempster Highway; the territorial government has completed 34 bridges across all but six of the widest river crossings that serve the ice road and await the all-weather route. In June 2018, an announcement of $140 million funding would result in a bridge over Great Bear River and extend the Mackenzie Highway's all-weather road north by 15 km to Mount Gaudet.

Just east of Fort Simpson's airport, the highway crosses the Liard River by ferry (summer) and ice bridge (winter). 45 km (28 mi) further east of the crossing, the location known as Checkpoint is the site of a former gas station at the junction with the Liard Highway (Northwest Territories Highway 7, British Columbia Highway 77) from Fort Nelson, British Columbia.

Major intersections

Province / Territory	Municipality / Region	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Alberta	M.D. of Peace No. 135	Grimshaw	0	0.0	Highway 2A east (55 Avenue) – Peace River Highway 2 south – Fairview, Grande Prairie	Mile Zero Mackenzie Highway.
		​	4	2.5	Highway 2 east – Peace River, Edmonton	Hwy 2 branches east; Mackenzie Hwy follows Hwy 35; south end of National Highway System Core Route.
					Highway 35 south terminus
	Northern Lights	​	13	8.1	Highway 737 west (Warrensville Road)
			20	12	Highway 986 east – Little Buffalo, Red Earth Creek
		Dixonville	39	24	Highway 689 west
		​	62	39	Highway 690 east – Deadwood
		Manning	82	51	Highway 691 east
		​	120	75	Highway 692 east – Notikewin Provincial Park
			179	111	Highway 695 east – Carcajou	South end of Hwy 695 concurrency.
			186	116	Highway 695 west – Keg River	North end of Hwy 695 concurrency.
			219	136	Highway 697 east – Tompkins Landing Ferry, La Crete, Fort Vermilion
	Mackenzie	High Level	278	173	Highway 58 west – Rainbow Lake, Assumption	South end of Hwy 58 concurrency
			279	173	Highway 58 east – Fort Vermilion, La Crete, John D'or Prairie	North end of Hwy 58 concurrency
		​	363	226	Crosses Hay River
			364	226	Zama Road – Zama City
60th parallel			469 0	291 0.0	Alberta – Northwest Territories border Highway 35 north terminus • Highway 1 south terminus
Northwest Territories	South Slave	Enterprise	83	52	Highway 2 north (Hay River Highway) – Hay River, Fort Smith	Hwy 1 turns west.
		​	167	104	Kakisa Access Road – Kakisa
			168	104	Crosses Kakisa River
			186	116	Highway 3 north (Yellowknife Highway) – Fort Providence, Yellowknife	North end of National Highway System Core Route; south end of Northern & Remote Route.
	Dehcho	​	324	201	Crosses Trout River
			376	234	Jean Marie River Access Road – Jean Marie River
		Checkpoint	412	256	Highway 7 south (Liard Highway) – Fort Liard, Fort Nelson	Hwy 1 turns north.
		​	457	284	Crosses Liard River MV Lafferty Ferry (mid/late May to late October) • Ice bridge (late November to mid April)
		Fort Simpson	472	293	Fort Simpson Access Road	Hwy 1 branches northwest.
		​	489	304	Crosses Martin River
		N’Dulee Crossing	548	341	Crosses Mackenzie River MV Johnny Berens Ferry (late May to late October) • Ice bridge (mid December to mid April)
		​	627	390	Crosses Willowlake River
		Wrigley	690	430	winter road – Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Colville Lake	Highway 1 north terminus (Mackenzie Highway)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

Photo gallery

• 
  Rapids on Trout River, from Mackenzie Highway
  61°8′42″N 119°50′46″W
• 
  The Mackenzie Highway
  61°8′35″N 119°10′28″W
• 
  In McNallie Creek Territorial Park
  60°46′37.9″N 116°34′25″W
• 
  Northwest Territories Highway of Heroes sign

External links

• Highway 1 - Northwest Territories Department of Transportation
• 1948 Mackenzie Highway, Grimshaw to Hay River
• Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuktoyaktuk