The Top of the World Highway is a 79 mile long highway beginning at a junction with the Taylor Highway near Jack Wade, Alaska traveling east to its terminus at the ferry terminal in West Dawson, Yukon, on the western banks of the Yukon River. The highway has been in existence since 1955 and is only open during the summer months. The entire portion of the highway in Yukon is also known as Yukon Highway 9. The Alaska portion is short and numbered Alaska Highway 5. The Alaska Department of Transportation refers to it as Top of the World Highway. The highway passes through the tiny 17 person village of Chicken with its general store. A ferry connects West Dawson to Dawson City in summer,and residents living in West Dawson and nearby Sunnydale cross on the ice during the winter.
