Hart River Airport

The closure was primarily for economic reasons. The airstrip was built to support oil and gas exploration in the remote Eagle Plain basin. The completion of the Dempster Highway provided reliable, year-round ground access to the region, making the high cost of maintaining and operating a remote airstrip redundant for the level of activity in the area.

The site is an abandoned and unmaintained gravel runway. Satellite imagery confirms the outline of the airstrip is still visible but is heavily overgrown with shrubs and vegetation, indicating it is being reclaimed by the wilderness. There is no remaining infrastructure such as buildings or navigation aids. The land is part of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation's traditional territory and is not used for any formal purpose.

Hart River Airport was a key piece of transportation infrastructure during the mid-20th century resource exploration boom in the northern Yukon. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it served as a vital logistical hub for companies exploring for oil and gas. Operations consisted of light and medium transport aircraft (such as the DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-2 Beaver, and possibly larger aircraft like the DC-3) ferrying personnel, drilling supplies, and equipment to and from remote camps before reliable road access existed. It was part of a network of similar rudimentary airstrips that opened up the North for resource development.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Hart River Airport. The cost to clear, rehabilitate, and certify the airstrip for modern use would be substantial. With the Dempster Highway serving the region's transportation needs, there is no current economic or logistical justification for its reopening. Any prospect for future use would be entirely dependent on a major new resource discovery in the immediate vicinity that would require dedicated air logistics, which is considered highly speculative and unlikely.