The Liard Highway (designated Highway 77 in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and Highway 7 in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

) is a 378 km two-lane

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in Canada that is the only direct road link between British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Passing through sparsely-populated areas of

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...

, it serves as the sole land access route for the communities of

Fort Liard Fort Liard (Slavey language: ''Echaot'l Koe'' "people from the land of the giants" or ''Acho Dene Kue'') is a hamlet in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located north of the British Columbia border. It became access ...

and

Nahanni Butte Nahanni Butte ( ; Slavey language: Tthenáágó "strong rock") is a "Designated Authority" in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located at the confluence of the Liard and South Nahanni Rivers in the south ...

Route

The highway begins at a point on the

Alaska Highway