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Address Mile 635, Alaska Hwy, Watson Lake, YT, Canada Hours Open today · 8AM–8PMTuesday8AM–8PMWednesday8AM–8PMThursday8AM–8PMFriday8AM–8PMSaturday8AM–8PMSunday8AM–8PMMonday8AM–8PMSuggest an edit Similar SS Klondike, Diamond Tooth Gertie's G, Miles Canyon Basalts, Northern Lights Centre, Yukon Beringia Interpretiv | ||
Sign Post Forest is a collection of signs at Watson Lake, Yukon and is one of the most famous of the landmarks along the Alaska Highway. It was started by a homesick G.I. in 1942. He was assigned light duty while recovering from an injury and erected the signpost for his hometown: Danville, Ill. 2835 miles. Visitors may add their own signs to the 100,000 already present.
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Watson lake sign post forest alaska alcan highway yukon canada
Origin
In 1942, a simple sign post pointing out the distances to various points along the tote road being built was damaged by a bulldozer. Private Carl K. Lindley, serving with the 341st Engineers, was ordered to repair the sign, and decided to personalize the job by adding a sign pointing towards his home town, Danville, Illinois, and giving the distance to it. Several other people added directions to their home towns, and the idea has been snowballing ever since.
The forest today
The Sign Post Forest takes up a couple of acres, with huge new panels being constantly added, snaking through the trees. There are street signs, welcome signs, signatures on dinner plates, and license plates from around the world.
In June 2012 the stage in the centre of the forest was the site of an impromptu performance of the play Two Women on a Precipice. The playwright Karin Fazio Littlefield was delayed in attending the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska by mudslides on the Alaska Highway. Littlefield and her fellow actors performed the piece for travellers who were likewise stranded in Watson Lake by the mudslides.