Getting Down the Dempster
Whether the Dempster's river crossings are running as ferries, open as ice crossings, or in the gap between — worked out from today's date, with the official live status linked.
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Whether the Dempster's river crossings are running as ferries, open as ice crossings, or in the gap between — worked out from today's date, with the official live status linked.
Inuvik's road to the south — the Dempster Highway — is only open when its two river crossings can carry vehicles: ferries in summer, ice crossings in deep winter. In between, while the ice is forming or breaking up, the road south is closed and the only way in or out is by air. This page works out which season you are in from today's date. Always check the official live status before you travel.
Sunday 21 June
The ferry is running across the Peel and Mackenzie River crossings on the Dempster Highway
The ferry season usually ends around 20 October.
Live status — check before you drive
This page shows the typical season calendar, not today’s live status. Freeze-up and break-up shift by weeks every year, so check the official source below for the actual crossing conditions right now.
Open-water season, roughly 1 June to 20 October.
Free government ferries cross the Peel River (near Fort McPherson) and the Mackenzie River (at Tsiigehtchic). They run through the open-water months, from after the spring break-up until the rivers freeze in the fall. Both must be running for the Dempster to be open south.
Typical season, roughly 15 December to 30 April.
In deep winter the rivers freeze hard enough for the highway crews to build and maintain ice crossings, and the Dempster opens south again. Light vehicles go on first; heavy trucks wait until the ice is thick enough to carry them.
freeze-up gap · break-up gap
Between the seasons — while the ice forms in the fall (roughly mid-October to mid-December) and breaks up in the spring (roughly May) — the rivers are neither open for the ferry nor solid for the ice crossing, and the Dempster is closed to the south. In those weeks the only way in or out is by air through Mike Zubko Airport (YEV), and fuel, mail and groceries that come up the road can run short. Plan ahead for the gaps and stock up before freeze-up and break-up.
Inuvik's power and much of its heat run on LNG and propane trucked up the Dempster from the south. When the road closes, deliveries stop. In January 2026 the gas utility asked residents to turn down the heat and cut energy use with only about four or five days of propane on hand, after Dempster closures cut off deliveries. The freeze-up and break-up gaps are a resupply problem, not just a travel one.
The Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway, which runs north to the Arctic coast, is an all-weather gravel road with no river crossing — it stays open year-round. It is the road south, the Dempster, that opens and closes with the seasons.
Source: Dempster Highway driving seasons; Town of Inuvik; CBC North, checked 21 June 2026 (today).