Watson Lake, YT - Home of the Signpost Forest

Leslie, Friday, May 28, 2010
Watson Lake Tags RV Park

Welcome to the Signpost Forest. Against all odds, the ALCAN Highway was built in 1942 to provide a land route for protection of Alaska and northern Canada from a possible Japanese invasion.  Although civilian contractors provided most of the construction effort, the US Army Corps of Engineers blazed the way.  In 1942 during construction of the ALCAN Highway, a homesick soldier was assigned to replace a road construction sign. With permission, he added a sign pointing to his hometown at the bottom of the official sign.  Other soldiers followed his lead.  Over the years it has become a tradition for people to post a sign pointing toward their hometown or a memory sign of their travels.  The Watson Lake Visitor’s Center reports that over 1000 signs are added every year.

The Sign Post Forest takes up a large city block.  You can wander aimlessly for hours reading the strange and different messages posted by visitors and residents.


When we visited Watson Lake in September 2008 we commented to each other that we really wished we had a sign to post.  Today we followed through.  Since we moved to Texas we’ve been carrying the Colorado license plates that were formerly on my car.  Today the plates came in handy!

Robert brought out a drill and we posted our  personal sign in the Signpost Forest. 


I annotated the plate with both years that we have visited Watson Lake. 



As Robert was drilling, I was concerned that we were going to get arrested.  Somehow it seemed that there would be an “official” way to post a sign – you know, fill out the government form in duplicate, etc.  Later I learned that Watson Lake is fine with everyone posting a sign as they wish.



So here’s our sign, posted on the bottom of a pole.



And if you visit and look for our sign, here’s our neighborhood.  We’re on the east side of the forest.

I was amazed by the number of elaborate signs from other countries. As our traveling friend Stan said, “gee, they not only had to make these elaborate signs, they also had to pack the sign along with themselves.” 

Some signs are a little strange:



Other signs are very personal:



Some signs are made of unusual materials: