Yukon Highway 4, also known as the Robert Campbell Highway or Campbell Highway, is a road between Watson Lake, Yukon on the Alaska Highway to Carmacks, Yukon on the Klondike Highway. It is 583 km (362 mi) long and mostly gravel-surfaced. It serves the communities of Faro and Ross River and intersects the Canol Road near Ross River.
The first portion of the Robert Campbell Highway, between Watson Lake and Miner Junction, was built in the early 1960s as part of the project to complete road access to Tungsten, Northwest Territories. The portion east and north of Miner Junction is now known as the Nahanni Range Road, and is presently Yukon Territorial Highway #10.
During the late 1960s and continuing to 1971, highways were built to connect Carmacks with Ross River, with a spur road to Faro to serve the new lead-zinc mine that opened in 1969. Additional road work was also completed between Ross River and Miner Junction. The completed road complements the Canol Road, providing two loops and bringing year-round access to Ross River.
The Campbell Highway is mostly gravel, and the most improved section is between Carmacks and Faro, where it has taken the most abuse from trucks hauling ore to Whitehorse and beyond.
The highway was originally route 9, but became route 4 in 1978. For travelers from the south whose destination is Dawson City, this route is some 20 miles shorter than going through Whitehorse.
Famous quotes containing the words campbell and/or highway:
“Bored with the foolish things that girls must dream
Because their beds are empty of delight,”
—Roy Campbell (1902–1957)
“In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.”
—For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)