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All the United States Alaska Eagle Poker Creek

Poker Creek

The northernmost international land border crossing in the United States.

Eagle, Alaska

Added By
Edward Denny
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The Poker Creek border crossing.   Design Pics Inc/Alamy
Poker Creek, Alaska.   Edward Denny / Atlas Obscura User
The Canadian side of the joint border station.   Jimz47/cc by-sa 3.0
Top of the World Highway   Aconcagua/cc by-sa 3.0
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About

The Top of the World Highway snakes through breathtaking North American scenery. Rolling hills flank a path sparsely studded with clusters of scraggly trees. On this boreal route sits Poker Creek, the United States’ northernmost terrestrial border crossing.

At an elevation of 4,127 feet, Poker Creek is the second highest border crossing along the US-Canada border. (The highest crossing is at Chief Mountain near Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park at 5,649 feet.) It’s the U.S. counterpart to Canada’s adjacent command post at Little Gold Creek, Yukon Territory. Though the two stations share a facility, they’re actually separated by a time zone.

The population of Poker Creek fluctuates wildly, changing by as much as 50 percent from year to year. Variously reported as two or three people, demographics change with the needs of the U.S. Customs Service. Census numbers plummet congruently with the temperatures in winter, as the border closes between September and May.

After passing through Poker Creek and into the U.S., travelers are free to range over Alaska’s great wildlands toward the town of Chicken. Ticking along Route 5, Tok beckons only 80 miles south from there. The more adventurous may choose the six-hour round-trip detour north on dirt roads to the historic town of Eagle, perched on the banks of the Yukon on the site of the now-abandoned Fort Egbert.

Related Tags

Border Crossings Borders Roads Roadside Attractions

Know Before You Go

The border crossing is closed during the winter.

Community Contributors

Added By

Edward Denny

Edited By

markc9503, Kerry Wolfe

  • markc9503
  • Kerry Wolfe

Published

July 17, 2018

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_Creek_-_Little_Gold_Creek_Border_Crossing
  • http://www.explorenorth.com/alaska/poker_creek.html
  • http://www.cjocfm.com/news-and-info/lethbridge-news/chief-mountain-border-crossing-near-waterton-park-now-open-for-season/
Poker Creek
Top of the World Hwy
Eagle, Alaska
United States
64.085721, -141.001418
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Nearby Places

Chicken of Chicken, Alaska

Chicken, Alaska

miles away

Paddlewheel Graveyard

Dawson City, Yukon

miles away

Dawson City Museum

Dawson City, Yukon

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Eagle

Eagle

Alaska

Places 2

Nearby Places

Chicken of Chicken, Alaska

Chicken, Alaska

miles away

Paddlewheel Graveyard

Dawson City, Yukon

miles away

Dawson City Museum

Dawson City, Yukon

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Eagle

Eagle

Alaska

Places 2

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