2019 Alaska Trip - Day 132 - Watson Lake Signpost Forest, Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park & Roadside Wildlife

We left the Big Creek campground right at 9:00 a.m. and made the short drive to Watson Lake where we fueled up the motorhome at $1.34 CAD/liter. That comes out to a little over $5.00 CAD/gallon, but with the exchange rate it is about $3.80 USD/gallon. Because the exchange rate for us is so good, the gas prices in Canada haven't been nearly as high as we expected this summer. 

We paid under $4.00 a gallon everywhere but a couple places in Alaska, and we were at $3.00 a gallon in a few places. We've probably averaged about $4 USD/gallon in Canada in May and September thus far.

Right across the road from the Tag's gas station in Watson Lake is the famous "Signpost Forest". This is the view of the front entrance from the Alaska Highway.

 

 

Here's how it got started.

"The tradition began during the Alaska Highway Project in 1942, when U.S. soldier Carl K. Lindley spent time in Watson Lake recovering from an injury. A commanding officer asked him to repair and erect the directional signposts, and while completing the job, he added a sign that indicated the direction and mileage to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. Others followed suit, and the trend caught on. In 1990, a couple from Ohio added the 10,000th sign in the Signpost Forest. Today, there are over 77,000 signs in the Forest, and the number grows each year as visitors contribute signs and continue the tradition. The Town of Watson Lake maintains the site, adding more sign posts as they fill up. Bring along a sign to add to the forest, or make one at the Visitor Information Centre."

 

It's a great thing for Watson Lake as far as a tourist attraction goes, but the spirit of the signposts with mileage to hometowns has been lost in the desire of everyone to just post a sign .... or a sticker .... or clothing (hats, shoes, socks, and even at least one bra) .... or pretty much anything. People are sticking signs everywhere including nailing them to trees and informational signs, or just writing on any exposed surface. One minute it looks really cool and you are sucked into sign-gawking, and the next minute you think "what an eyesore".

You could spend hours looking at the nearly 80,000 signs, stickers, license plates, and more. Folks stumbling onto this roadside attraction have been very creative in making signs out of household goods. Several people used dustpans, which probably came from their RVs.

So, there is a little parking right on the Alaska Highway, .....

 

 

but then there is also parking behind the "forest" where there is an information sign that provides the story I posted above. 

 

 

There is also a sign shop on the back side of the "forest", but it wasn't open.

 

 

Prior to our arrival, Linda said they needed a combination signmaker/food truck/coffee hut. 

And there is a large parking lot on the left side of the "forest" off the Campbell Highway. That big parking lot sits between the "forest" and the Watson Lake Recreation Centre which also houses the Visitors Information Centre.

 

 

We wanted to see if we could find an RV-Dreams logo hat that was left here in 2010 by our friends Bill & Linda. And, we had an RV-Dreams sign that was made for us several years ago by a high school friend that we wanted to post. Yep, we aren't following the spirit of the mileage signposts either.

So after parking in the big parking lot, we entered this sign menagerie and started scanning for an open spot on a post and for the logo hat. 

 

 

 

 

It took a while, but we finally found some of the newer posts that had been recently "planted". However, the available space for signs was at the top of the posts requiring a ladder. Apparently, that's why people started putting signs anywhere they could reach.

There aren't that many hats or ballcaps, so we thought it might be easy to find the logo cap. Nope, there are just too many places to look. So, I called Bill & Linda and happened to get them on the phone. Bill could only tell me at was at the top of one of the posts and not too far from the entrance.

With that information, we found what we thought was it. It was at the top of a post, but it was folded over so that the logo wasn't showing. Still, it was the right color, and I was pretty sure that was it. Now, we just needed a ladder. Bill said they furnished a ladder when he was there, but the Visitors Center told us they don't do that anymore - apparently the ladder walked off.

We had our collapsible ladder in the back of the Jeep, so it was a lot more accessible than if it had been in the "trunk" of the motorhome. We carried the ladder, our sign, an electric screwdriver and some hardware to the spot where some space was available on a few posts. But then another couple, from Mississippi, told us they were going to put their sign on the Signpost Forest sign at the entrance. I wasn't crazy about that idea, but we thought that would certainly be easier to tell people where to find it, so I set up the ladder, and Linda screwed it in to the back side of the main sign.

 

 

We took photos of the Mississippi couple with their sign, and they took a couple of us with ours.

 

 

So, if you go to the Signpost Forest in the next few years, just go under the main sign on the Alaska Highway, ....

 

 

then turn around and look up.

 

 

After getting our pictures taken, we went back to the mystery hat that's just a couple rows from the highway to the left as you go under the main sign. I climbed up the ladder to check the hat.

 

 

Sure enough, that was it. It's in pretty bad shape, but it's there. I added a couple nails to keep it from flopping over.

 

 

 

It's pretty easy to find as it's just above a snowboard secured between two posts.

 

 

We spent about two hours at the Signpost Forest, about an hour longer than I intended, but we accomplished our objective, and we can document our personal visit to another stop on the Alaska Highway that most people make. If you have a sign to post or you need a break or you are just curious, go ahead and stop. Otherwise, it's no great loss on your journey if you skip it.

 

From there, we had about 130 miles to go to Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. The Alaska Highway weaves into British Columbia (B.C.) then back into the Yukon and so forth a few times before staying in B.C.

It was another great day and another beautiful drive with good roads.

 

 

 

 

And there was wildlife.

We saw a fox crossing the road, and we buzzed by a Black Bear sow with two cubs before we could stop. Later we saw another bear munching on clover beside the road.

 

 

 

After that, it was bison time. We saw several bison bulls .....

 

 

 

 

and then a small herd about a mile from the park.

 

 

Pulling into the park, the attendant at the entrance told us to pick a spot and then come back and pay. It's $26 CAD/night and they only take cash. They will take U.S. dollars but they don't give you the exchange rate, so you are better off having Canadian dollars.

When we crossed into Canada, we got a couple hundred dollars in Canadian money just for the purpose of paying campground fees as we make our way through the country. Our account will only be charged about $150 though, so this is a good year for Americans to be traveling in Canada as the Canadian dollar is about 75% of the U.S. dollar.

The campground has no hook-ups and no dump station. We saw one spigot where you might be able to take on water, and then there were pumps scattered in the campground to fill jugs. They were sold out of firewood, but the lodge/RV park across the highway has it for sale.

If you are camping, there is no fee to go to the hot springs. If you aren't camping, then you pay a $5/person day use fee or $10 for families. An annual pass is only $10/person or $20/family. And the day use fees are only charged May 1 - September 30. There is no day use fee the rest of the year.

We drove into the campground, and there were several sites open. Almost all of them were quite large, so big rigs shouldn't have a problem. We chose Site 19, a big, open back-in site with lots of sun exposure and good privacy. The sites have firepits and very nice picnic tables. It's clear this park is well taken care of.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of our site since we were anxious to get to the hot springs. We got in early and were set up around 3:00; and I wanted to get to the springs before all the other campers arriving later got there.

We gathered our stuff and walked along the campground road to the path leading to the day use area. They have a mobile "visitor center" there.

 

 

It was unmanned, and there were a few brochures inside.

We started down the path, .... 

 

 

and then there is a boardwalk that is about a ten-minute walk to the springs.

 

 

We heard that moose will sometime come into this marshy area near the boardwalk.

 

 

Continuing down the boardwalk ....

 

 

 

There are restrooms in this building, .....

 

 

and there are changing rooms (no showers) next to the springs.

 

 

 

It's in a lovely setting and the upper pool is clear and beautiful with nice steps down into the pool and benches along the sides.

 

 

 

There are a couple benches in the middle as well. Linda was in first.

 

 

We quickly understood why everyone says this is a "must do" stop. It was so much better than the other two hot springs we experienced recently.

 

 

 

We don't do many selfies, but today was one of those days.

 

 

Even with the structures, they are so well done, this spring retains its natural feel.

 

 

The bottom is gravel, and flip flops or water shoes are really only necessary for the most sensitive feet.

The hot water source is at the top of the upper pool, and it flows through the clear water over a dam to the cooler lower pool.

 

 

Linda liked the lower pool (no benches), .....

 

 

 

while I liked the beauty and comfort of the upper pool.

 

 

We met some other RVers and talked to them for a long time. We ended up staying a little over two hours, and then headed back to the RV.

We cooked some dinner and ran the generator for the chest freezer. They have limited generator hours here: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

After generator time ended for the evening, we went on a night drive to look for some wildlife.

We soon came upon another small herd of bison.

 

 

 

And then we saw a Black Bear and a couple porcupines.

 

 

We ended up seeing four bears.

 

 

 

It was pretty dark by the time we saw the last one right next to the road.

 

 

 

Linda was only about fifteen feet away when she took those shots out her window.

We drove 30-something miles down to the Muncho Lake overlook, but it was far too dark to see anything. We had to go pretty slow on the return trip, to make sure there were no animals in the road.

At 9:38 p.m. we saw a nice little show of Northern Lights as we drove. The green streaks and blobs danced a little, but they were still faint compared our show on August 31.

We continued driving past the campground to find a pull-out where we could just stop and watch the sky, since the campground is pretty heavily treed. Well, we came upon another herd of bison .... standing in the middle of the road. We were fortunate to see them.

Eventually, they made a small path that we squeezed through, but we only went a few more miles before deciding to turn back.

At our campsite, there was a faint green streak, and I got out our loungers. But I was just too tired to sit out there and wait, so we went in around 11:00 p.m.

Whew. That was a long, interesting day.

Tomorrow, we think we're going to move across the highway where the lodge has an RV park with electric. And then we're going to do a day trip heading farther down the Alaska Highway. We've heard that the Muncho Lake and Toad River areas are some of the prettiest scenery on the Alaska Highway, so we want to check it out with the Jeep since we aren't going that way in the RV.

Check back to find out our thoughts on that section of highway. Until next time.

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Comments

[Gene Siesky]

Just FYI: Gas in western Ohio is $1.43/gal. Your photos are beautiful, but I wish you used a program that allows for them to be expanded.

[Tracy Perkins]

Love that hot springs...my absolute favorite!! Also hooray for you being prepared for he sign forest.

[Dean from AZ]

We stayed in site 19 at Liard just a few weeks ago also and really liked the site. Very private and lots of birds around. Absolutely go to Muncho Lake as it an awesome lake. A great place for some Kayaking. If you are heading down the Cassiar you might want to check out Boya Lake and also Kinaskan Lake. They are both beautiful.

[Phyllis East]

We had planned to return from Alaska in that direction but things changed. While still near Anchorage I picked that time to have a mild stroke. Therefore I flew back to NJ. Hubby drove but didn't stop to site see. We always said someday....

[Kay Pihl]

We love strawberry flats campground on muncho lake. Also I dont think you got to the separate upper pool at liard that is farther up the path. Favorite campground on the cassiar
is a provincial park (no hookups) called kinaskan.

[Bill]

Well, I'll be, after 9 years you found that hat. And now the circle is complete. Good for all four of us. That's kind of a cool little story as far back as we go with RV-Dreams. That hat has a lot of miles and memories connected to it.
B & L