Flying to Alaska in a Small Plane 2025: Day Two

Day Two, Watson Lake and Teslin

Watson Lake is normally the destination after the Trench or the Al Can routes and three times I’ve spent the night here. I like it. You will at first wonder why hey have a huge paved runway here with little traffic. They have a nice gazebo and camping area for airplanes (though it is some loose gravel to get there).  There is a very informative display in the terminal about the lend-lease program in which the US flew many thousands of planes, tanks and equipment up through Alaska to the Soviet Union to help them fight the Germans in WWII. Then you understand why they have a huge runway. 

It is too bad the airport isn’t closer to town. The town is famous for the “sign forest” started in WWII in which folks steal signs from their hometown and put them up here. There are tens of thousands of signs and although it sounds silly, it’s fun to find signs of places you recognize. Like the street you live on. 

This time up in 2025 we kept flying after fueling up and ended up in Teslin, Yukon. Teslin is a small Tlingit community on the very long Teslin Lake. Turns out I like it as much as Watson Lake and I think I’ll keep splitting my stays between the two. I like Teslin because it’s nice under-the-wing camping and you can take a pleasant walk to the “lodge”. The written guide I had said it was a lodge on the river. It’s not a lodge and it’s not on the river. It’s actually called the Yukon Motel and if your expectations are set appropriately, it’s great. The food is surprisingly good, but don’t expect much in the way of ambiance. I just sat outside on the porch and watched everyone go by since it is a very busy stop on the Al Can.

The last time I was there August of 2025 they had a problem. They were rebuilding the big, long modern highway bridge over the mouth of a river and had built up a large gravel foundation for the north concrete abutment. They built the bridge – and the north abutment sank 4 feet into the gravel. At the time they were appaarently still trying to figure out what to do about it. So if you visit, check it out, I bet it is still 4 feet low on the north end.

There was quite a bit of helicopter activity (gold prospectors and fish counters) so we camped outside the fence in a field. 

When Graeme and I camped there the woman in the lonely flight service station made sure she got there early the next morning to make us coffee and bagels. Very nice!