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Scott Arklie and his family put their Toyota Tundra reliability to the test this summer as they travelled across Canada to the Arctic Ocean. Not only did they see some amazing and iconic landmarks, but they even successfully travelled to the farthest place in Canada that you can drive (Tuktoyaktuk, NWT).
We thought their adventure was so amazing that we had to share it with you, too. This blog post has all the details of their incredible Canadian road trip including the stops they made along the way and how their reliable Toyota Tundra made the whole trip possible.
Also Read: 2024 Toyota Tundra Review, Pricing, and Specs
The Arklie family have been customers of West Edmonton Mall Toyota for almost 16 years. They have owned four Toyota Tundras over the years and all of them have taken them on some pretty amazing adventures.
“We have never had a more reliable vehicle since we have been purchasing vehicles. Out of the four Tundras we have owned, we have never had one serious mechanical issue.”
The secret to their success? Besides the Tundra being one of the most reliable trucks you can buy, the Arklies believe in following their recommended Toyota maintenance schedule. Heck — they even tow a 31-foot travel trailer and have been on countless road trips with it across Alberta and B.C.
This summer they decided to put that famous Toyota Tundra reliability to the test by taking their trusty steed all the way to the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories. The trip took six full days of driving covering a total of 7477 kilometres — most of which were isolated with no cell reception.
Their story is an amazing example of all the adventures that your Toyota can make possible. It also has lots of details you can include for your next Canadian summer road trip. Read all about their adventures in their own words below!
Distance: 1008 Kilometers
The first leg of the journey was leaving our house in Stony Plain Alberta on the morning of July 30.
We had several stops along the way including Beaver Lodge (The World’s Largest Beaver) and Dawson Creek, British Columbia (Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway).
Eventually, we ended the day in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Here, we spent the night and caught some local sights before our second leg of the journey.
Distance: 951 Kilometres
Along this portion of the road, we stopped at several places along the way including Liard Hot Springs, Summit Lake (which is the highest point on the Alaska Highway), Watson Lake, and Yukon at the Sign Post Forest.
Then the long remainder of the day was spent travelling to Whitehorse.
Here we spent three days seeing all the sights, getting the local history – Miles Canyon, the Whitehorse, glass blowing, SS Klondike and the Transportation museum with the world’s largest weather vane just to mention a few.
Distance: 533 Kilometres
This portion of our adventure had lots of sights again along the way as well as during our four days in and around the Gold Town.
Some sights included the gold fields Dredge #4 National Historic Site and Klondike Kates.
On our anniversary, we partook in the famous Sour Toe Cocktail at the Sourdough Saloon. We had adventures across the Yukon River to west Dawson and checked out the Midnight Dome overlooking the town of Dawson. Our biggest adventure was an hour-long tour along the Bonanza Creek road through the gold fields and coming out on Hunker Creek road.
Distance: 774 Kilometres
This portion was supposed to be the most scenic, but there was a lot of smoke that day.
It was definitely the most isolated portion of the trip with very few vehicles on the road.
The route took us northeast to the Yukon/Northwest Territory border, passing through Eagle Plains which is the halfway point to Inuvik and the only place for gas along the way.
Next were two river crossings, Peel River and the Mackenzie River, with a stop at Fort McPherson.
From here we were off to the Arctic Circle!
Just after this, we had our first minor issue with the shale and dirt road, which left us with a flat tire.
So after a brief stop to change it, we were off for Inuvik!
Distance: 152 Kilometres
Here we spent the night and completed our journey the next day with the trip to the Arctic Ocean and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT.
It’s the farthest place in Canada that you can drive!
We were able to spend a lot of time due to the late sunset adventuring around town seeing all the spectacular sights, Pingos, the Arctic Ocean and the sod houses.
Also, we even took some time to visit with local children at the youth center in town.
We enjoyed the local hospitality and some of the local cuisine including Muktuk, which is beluga whale meat.
The entire trip was such an amazing experience and we couldn’t have done it without our Tundra!
The Arklie family put the Toyota Tundra reliability to the test and it looks like it passed with flying colours!
So what’s next for their family? Next summer they plan on taking their Toyota Tundra across Canada all the way to central Newfoundland. All said and done, it will be over 11, 000 kilometres round trip.
Our team at West Edmonton Mall Toyota will do our part to make sure their Tundra is running at its best and they are ready for the journey ahead. We love their sense of adventure and we can’t wait to hear all about their next trip.
We love hearing about the adventures you take in your new Toyotas. Do you have a story or a great summer road trip you want to share? Contact us today and be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for updates and news from our team.
