Northwest Territories Road Map

Description:
This map shows cities, towns, highways, main roads, secondary roads, rivers, and lakes in the Northwest Territories.

Road Infrastructure in Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories maintains approximately 2,300 kilometres of all-weather highways. Highway 3, also known as the Yellowknife Highway, connects the capital to the Alberta border and serves as the primary southern access route, spanning 338 kilometres.

The Mackenzie Highway (Highway 1) extends 530 kilometres from the Alberta border to Wrigley, providing the main north-south corridor. Highway 4 branches westward to Fort Providence and connects to Highway 3, completing a critical transportation triangle in the southern region.

The Dempster Highway (Highway 8) represents the only public road crossing the Arctic Circle in Canada, running 363 kilometres from the Yukon border to Inuvik and extending to Tuktoyaktuk via the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway (Highway 10), opened in 2017. This 138-kilometre all-weather road replaced the previous ice road, providing year-round access to the Arctic Ocean.

Ice roads constitute a vital component of the territorial road system, operating typically from January to March. The Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, stretching over 400 kilometres, ranks as one of the world's longest seasonal roads, serving diamond mines in the northern regions.

Highway 5 (Frontier Trail) and Highway 7 (Liard Highway) provide additional access to remote communities. Most communities lacking road connections rely on air transportation year-round and seasonal ice roads or barge services.