Haines Highway

The Haines Highway or Haines Cut-Off is a highway that connects Haines, Alaska, in the United States, with Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada, passing through the province of British Columbia. It follows the route of the old Dalton Trail from the port of Haines into the interior for about 160 km (100 miles) and then runs to Haines Junction. The highway is about 260 km (160 miles) long.

The trail was used by some prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898-1899. Other mining kept the lower Dalton Trail active through the years following its establishment. A wagon road along part of the trail in British Columbia was built by the British Columbia provincial government in 1909 when copper mining near Copper Butte and Mt. Glave was beginning in 1909. In 1911, 30 tons of ore were shipped from the mines. The State of Alaska rebuilt the road from Haines to Wells and constructed a bridge across the Chilkat River.

During World War II, upon completion of the Alaska Highway, the United States government decided that an alternate access to the highway should be provided in case both the land route from Dawson Creek, British Columbia and the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway from Skagway were blocked. As a result, the Haines Highway was built in 1943 by the U. S. Army at a cost of $13 million.