The small towns of Stewart, British Columbia and Hyder, Alaska are reached via Route 37A off of the Cassiar Highway (Route 37). Route 37A is sometimes referred to as the Glacier Highway as the 40 mile route travels past 20 glacier formations including Bear Glacier and Salmon Glacier. The road was originally built for mining. The area had a population of 10,000 in the 1920’s. Hyder Alaska is also well known for a bear viewing area located just north of town in the Tongass National Forest. We stayed at Bear River RV Park in Stewart, BC while touring the area.
Mountains along the Glacier Highway
Bear Glacier is located about 15 miles from the junction with Cassiar Highway. At one time the glacier reached the entire way across the valley. The old highway can be seen hundreds of feet above the present road. There are several pullouts for viewing the glacier. Glacier Highway then travels through the scenic and steep walled Bear River Canyon.
Bear Glacier used to extend across the valley
Closer view of Bear Glacier
The town of Stewart, “Canada’s most northerly, ice free port” is located 37 miles from the junction with the Cassiar Highway. It is now a small town with a population of about 700. It sits at the head of the Portland Canal, the fourth longest fjord in the world, on the Alaska-British Columbia border. There are 2 small grocery stores, some lodging options, a hardware store, a fuel station/car parts store, and a handful of restaurants that are open in-season. Our visit was just past season and some places were not open or had limited hours.
Welcome to Hyder Alaska, population of about 100
The Glacier Highway continues into Hyder, Alaska just across the border. There is no US Customs at this border, so no stopping eastbound. However, there is a Canadian Customs at this border. Make sure you have your passport if you travel to Hyder or beyond, as you will need it for your return trip back to Stewart and the Cassiar Highway. Hyder, Alaska is another small town with a population of about 100. There are few services in Hyder. There is an RV Park called Camp Run-A-Muck. We chose to stay in Stewart so that we would not have to take the RV through customs yet another time. We have not had to experience an RV search and would prefer to keep it that way. We have nothing to hide, but the idea of uprooting everything in the RV does not sound fun.
A salmon in Fish Creek
After Hyder, the Tongass National Forest Boundary is about 1.5 miles up the road. Most visitors are headed to the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Platform which is about 3.5 miles past Hyder. Fish Creek offers a unique opportunity to view and photograph Alaskan Brown (Grizzlies) and Black Bears which come to the creek to feed on the coho, chum, and pink salmon who come here to spawn. From July to September, the salmon run provides an extensive food supply for bears, sea gulls, bald eagles and wolves. There is a raised boardwalk with railing to create a safer environment for viewing bears. We were a bit late, visiting on September 12, 2016. The last bear on the posted report had been spotted a week earlier. We were able to view salmon and seagulls.
Warning at the parking areas of Fish Creek Viewing area
A view of the boardwalk at Fish Creek
Another view of the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing platform
Salmon in Fish Creek
This salmon is nearing the end of its life as seen in it coloring and scars
There is another border crossing about 13 miles from Stewart. This border has no customs in either direction. Further up the road is the Salmon Glacier, the largest road accessible glacier in the world, which is viewed from about 17.2 miles (the toe) through mile 23 from Stewart. The rest of the road is closed to the public and leads to a private mine. There was a checkpoint to prevent further travel on the day we traveled here. Unfortunately, we had heavy rain and fog on our visit and did not get to see the Salmon Glacier. We did enjoy seeing the foggy views which crated an other-world look. Locals told us that this was more like the typical weather in Stewart.
Salmon Glacier near Hyder courtesy Shutterstock
Salmon Glacier Viewing area at the time of our visit
Fog over the Salmon Glacier
Fog creates an other-world feeling
Mountains in the Hyder area
The Salmon River Valley near Hyder, Alaska
A waterfall along the road to Salmon Glacier
This is a nice 1-2 day side trip off of the Cassiar Highway. If you are intent on seeing bears, make sure you arrive a little earlier in the season than we did. Of course, salmon runs are somewhat unpredictable and there is no guarantee of bear viewing. We did spot two black bears between the Cassiar Hwy Junction and Stewart and a female black bear with two cubs near the the toe of the glacier viewpoint. Fortunately, the glaciers, mountains and waterfalls are always here, so you will have some reward for your effort.
