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Arctic Highway

Photo: Highway across Alaska's coastal plain

The James Dalton Highway cuts a lonely path through Alaska's icy Arctic coastal plain. The highway, 414 miles (666 kilometers) of gravel known as the Haul Road, was built to haul construction crews to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. A barren, often treacherous track, it has only been open for use by the public since 1994.

Photograph by Danita Delimont/Alamy