Tłı̨chǫ Highway (NT 9) trip report -- long, with photos

[oscar]

In June 2025, on my way from the Winnipeg road meet to southeastern British Columbia, I took a side trip to the Northwest Territories to travel its newest numbered highway, the Tłı̨chǫ Highway (NT 9). It is a 97 km-long unpaved highway, opened to the public in 2021, while travel to the Northwest Territories was severely restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. NT 9 provided all-season road access to the Tłı̨chǫ village of Whatì, previously served only by a winter-only road, from the Yellowknife Highway (NT 3) and other NWT communities. It also improves road access to the smaller Tłı̨chǫ villages of Gamèti and Wekweètì, still served only by winter roads from the north end of NT 9.

I had no problem traveling the unpaved highway in my compact SUV. The few other vehicles I saw along the way included some sedans, though I don't know whether they had all-wheel drive like my car.

The south end of NT 9, with route number markers for NT 9 and NT 3, and a route name sign for the Tłı̨chǫ Highway. The latter is bi-lingual, in Dogrib and English, though French is also used on some other signs:



Sign with distances to Whatì (including 12 km on the Whatì Access Road from NT 9's north end) and Gamèti and Wekweètì (including their winter roads):



The Tłı̨chǫ Highway welcome sign, and sign for the 70km/h (45mph) speed limit that applies to the entire highway:



At about km 20, a bison herd on and along both sides of the highway, and two bison on the road. "Bison breaks", where you need to patiently wait for the bison to get out of your way, are common on NT 3, but on this trip I encountered them only on NT 9:





North of the bison herd, near km 22, is NT9's first parking area, with trash and recycling bins:



At that parking area is a welcome sign, highlighting the landforms of the Great Slave Lake Plain which the highay crosses, and also the wetlands and discontinuous permafrost that the road crews had to work around:



The first bridge on NT 9 crosses the Duport River:



The next one crosses Woodland Caribou Creek:



After that is the short James River bridge:



North of that bridge is the boundary sign for Tłı̨chǫ lands:



NT 9's northern parking area is around km 77:



That area has information on Whatì's history, and fishing in adjacent Lac La Martre:



The last, and longest, NT 9 bridge crosses the La Martre River:



North of that bridge is an access road to Whatì Falls, on the La Martre River. Those falls had been billed as a tourist attraction for NT 9 travelers, only the Tłı̨chǫ government has at least temporarily closed the falls to out-of-town visitors:



About a dozen km east of Whatì is this intersection of NT 9 with the winter roads to Gamèti and Wekweètì. NT 9 briefly continues and curves to the west, to end at the all-season unnumbered Whatì Access Road:



A view of that intersection from the east confirms that NT 9 continues north of the turnoff to the Gamèti and Wekweètì winter roads:



At that turnoff is the barricade indicating that the winter roads are closed in June:



Next to that barricade is a stand for the tri-lingual signs confirming that both winter roads are closed for the season:


 
The welcome sign for Whatì village, at or near the end of the Whatì Access Road, with Lac La Martre in the background:



The road dead-ends at another road within the village (no street blades or other signs with the names of either road):

[vdeane]

North of that bridge is an access road to Whatì Falls, on the La Martre River. Those falls had been billed as a tourist attraction for NT 9 travelers, only the Tłı̨chǫ government has at least temporarily closed the falls to out-of-town visitors

Looks like they're still developing infrastructure for public visits.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/t%C5%82%C4%B1-ch%C7%AB-government-still-developing-n-w-t-s-what%C4%B1-falls-for-tourists-no-timeline-on-opening-1.7443739