British Columbia Highway 37A

Highway 37A in British Columbia, Canada
Stewart Highway
Basic data
Operator:	British Columbia Ministry of Transportation
Start of the street:	Meziadin Junction ( 56 ° 6 ′  N , 129 ° 18 ′  W )
End of street:	Stewart ( 55 ° 55 ′  N , 130 ° 1 ′  W )
Overall length:	65 km
Regional District :	Kitimat stikine
Course of the road S to Gitwangak , N to Dease Lake Strohn Creek Bear Glacier Provincial Park Bear River Bitter Creek Bear River Stewart United States - Canada  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

The British Columbia Highway 37A is a branch line of the British Columbia Highway 37 in the hinterland of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia , which leads from Highway 37 to Stewart and from there to Alaska . Highway 37A officially bears the name Stewart Highway . The unofficial name Glacier Highway is also used on some maps .

Route

The Stewart Highway leads through the Boundary Ranges and first along the north shore of Meziadin Lake towards the valley of Strohn Creek. The narrow valley of this stream is bordered in the north by the glaciated massif of Mount Pattullo (2729 m), in the south by the peaks that border the Cambria ice field. At kilometers 16 and 17 there are two viewpoints from which the hanging glaciers of both massifs can be seen.

Bear Glacier

Shortly after crossing Strohn Creek, Bear Glacier becomes visible for the first time. Coming from the Cambria ice field, it ends here in a lake strewn with floating icebergs. The Bear River rises from the lake and has to be crossed twice to get to Stewart. At kilometer 32 the valley of the Bear River widens, through which the highway now runs to Stewart. At 36 km the road enters the Bear River Canyon, which is short but impressive.

The valley widens and offers a view of the end of the Portland Channel, the straight road here follows the course of a former railway line past the Ward Pass cemetery at kilometer 51. The bridge over the Bear River at kilometer 58 forms the city limits to Stewart, after another six kilometers the border with the state of Alaska is reached.

Salmon Glacier Road

The Salmon Glacier Road is a continuation of the Stewart Highway that is only significant for tourism today. Originally it served to supply the mines in the valleys of the Salmon River and the Cascade River and the upper Bowser River. Today only the part up to the Summit Viewpoint will be serviced during the summer months (end of June - beginning of October).

Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Hyder

The road has 14 stops of tourist interest and a guide in English is available from the Stewart Tourist Office and shops in Hyder. The first two of these stops are still on Highway 37A (Downtown Stewart and the border with the state of Alaska). The following points of tourist interest are in Alaska:

1. Downtown Hyder (kilometer 4.0)
2. Tongass National Forest boundary (km 6.5) - the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, created in 1902, was converted to Tongass National Forest in 1907
3. Moose Pond (km 7.6) - despite the name, there are no moose here , but different species of waterfowl such as beavers , tree porcupines , red squirrels and various amphibians
4. Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Area and Fish Creek Road House (kilometer 9.6) - here you can see both black and grizzly bears hunting the rising salmon from July to September; only the chimney remained of the roadhouse that burned down in 1962
5. Titan Trail (10.0 km) - the trail leads eight kilometers through Fish Creek to the abandoned Titan Mine
6. Riverside Mine (Km 14.1) - Few of the remains of this copper and silver mine , which were abandoned in 1961, spared fire and floods and are the most productive in the Hyder area
7. Nine Mile (kilometer 16.6) - a bridge over the Salmon River provided access to the mines on Texas Creek, in 1967 an overflow of Summit Lake led to the collapse of the bridge, since 1978 all remains have disappeared

The following waypoints are back in British Columbia after crossing the border at around 20.5 kilometers:

View of the Salmon Glacier

1. Premier Border Crossing (kilometer 21.0) - until the beginning of the 1950s, a Canadian customs post was located here, which controlled the Premier Mine workers, who mostly lived in Hyder
2. Indian Mine Viewpoint (km 23.1) - the mine, which was closed in 1963, is visible to the west above Indian Creek
3. Premier Mine Viewpoint (kilometer 24.2) - Located on the eastern slope of the Salmon River valley, the Premier Mine is the best-preserved mine in the area and is operated sporadically depending on mineral prices
4. Terminal moraine of Salmon Glacier (kilometer 27.7) - the road leads east of the valley above Salmon Glacier, from which there are always beautiful views, along the mountainside
5. Summit Viewpoint (kilometer 37.0) - End of the road with a view of Salmon Glacier, which here leaves the ice field south of Mount White-Fraser that covers the peaks of this part of the Coast Mountains, as well as Summit Lake to the north and that next to it subsequent valley of the Bowser River

The road continues to the Granduc Mine, which was abandoned in 1984, and to the glacier tongue of Berendon Glacier, but this section is no longer regularly maintained after the mine is closed.

There are no supply options along Salmon Glacier Road.

Web links

• Reports on the road conditions at DriveBC

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Official Numbered Routes in British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, May 28, 2008, accessed June 2, 2014 . 
2. ↑ BC Landmark Kilometer Inventory (LKI). British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, December 19, 2013, accessed June 2, 2014 . 
3. ↑ MR Walker: The salvage, reclamation and abandonment of the Granduc Mine. (PDF, 773 KB) University of British Columbia, 1985, p. 1 , accessed on November 22, 2012 (English).