We found the road conditions to vary greatly as we progressed north. As you travel along the road you notice it takes the character of the surrounding hills which were the source of the gravels used to build the road. Thus the color changes from browns to blacks and greys.

In most places the road surface is at least a meter and in many places higher than the surrounding land. This helps insulate the underlying permafrost under the road. Most portions of the road are fairly smooth permitting easy travel.

As you progress over the Dempster, you continually depart and enter the treeline. While the Artic treeline is north near Inuvik, the alpine treeline is continually crossed as one gains and loses elevation providing a great wealth of different landscapes.