DRIVE to Alaska?

CJones

CJones

Final Approach
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uHaveNoIdea
Looks like my b-i-l will be transferred to Fairbanks, AK. Just to get a picture of exactly how stinkin far away that is, I plotted it on Google Maps. I was just wondering if anyone here has driven to Alaska on a route close to this. I know T.D. did it ?last year?, but he went up from Seattle. Anyone cut through the mid section of Canada to get there?

I'm not really planning a driving trip up there (although a flying trip is on the 'to-do' list), but it looks like it would be an interesting trip through some interesting terrain.

Any stories from the peanut gallery?

The route is HERE.
 
Can only speak to the part of your route from Edmonton north, but I've flown it and driven it.

Whitecourt, Grand Prairie, Fort Nelson, Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Whitehorse are small towns with all the usual amenities such as hotels, stores, groceries, Canadian Tire and Wally World-type stores, restaurants etc. A lot of oil development going on in that area so a lot of the hotels are filled with oil workers. Other towns such as Watson Lake, Teslin, Haines Junction are much smaller and seasonal, though they each have a couple of hotels, homestyle or truckstop restaurants and a small market.

I enjoyed staying in each town, even stranded in Teslin for two nights during a December snowstorm. Fascinating place.

As for scenery nothing to write home about until north of Fort Nelson IMO. After that it is beautiful, kind of Alaska - lite.
 
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I drove from MD to AK in '05. I passed through Montana, then Calgary, then Banff, but then joined your route around Grand Prairie, and Alaska Highway, though I headed South towards Seward, then back up to Denali.

Except for Whitehorse, services are pretty sparse up through the Northern parts of BC and YT, so packing in food and being prepared to camp is fairly pragmatic.

But except for the sparse services, in the summer-time it's just a really long drive along well-maintained roads, with no obvious major challenges, except for mosquitos which threaten to fly you back to their home to eat you at their leisure. I imagine having your car break-down might be a major hassle, because it's pretty easy to be hundreds of miles from anything.

I enjoyed Banff/Jasper a lot, very dramatic scenery. And areas of the Yukon afford you a feeling of "having a world to yourself" that's hard to get in more populated places.
-harry
 
One of my coworkers has ridden his Harley to Alaska from PA. Twice. As far as I know, he enjoyed the trip enough the first time to make it a second time.

Part of the question has to do with how much time you want to take. The more time you take, the more you can see (both along the way and while there), and the more fun it will probably be.

That's about all I can suggest. :)
 
I did that a long time ago, 1971, with family in a Dodge Motor Home. I was 17 and actually got to drive some, trip lasted seven weeks.

Left Detroit first major stop Bemidji MN for a motor home club summer rally. Remember the North Central convair 440's landing we were parked just off the end of one of the runways.

Driving through MN in early AM my dad hit a truck spring which punctured the battery, under the bed where one of us was sleeping and the holding tank. Pulled into Fargo and the Sears store had the battery in the Window. It was a fake nearst stor with a ral battery was in Bismarck so we limped there and found a fiberglass shop to fix the punctures.

We headed to Dawson Creek through Regina, Saskatoon and Edmonton. On the return we went South from Jasper through Banf then Calgary.

At Dawson Creek we mounted armor on the front of the motor home made from Pegboard and screen to prevent the rocks from damaging the motor home on the 1200 miles of gravel al-can highway. I think it's paved now. We took four days to cover the gravel road portion of the trip.

Some great pictures of the sunset over the lake we camped at in Whitehorse. That night on the up trip was the all-star game back in Detroit which I listened to on the radio.

Other memories

Dust in everything and everywhere.

Playing baseball at 11:30 pm in Anchorage.

How really long the four days on gravel were coming back.

Good Luck, Have fun.
 
Wow.. Sounds like it is more common than I expected.

Most of the stories I have heard keep referring to the gravel roads and having to carry an extra set of tires b/c your original set will be worn out when you get there, etc. etc. Of course, these trips were taking place in the 60's-70's-early 80's I think. I didn't know if conditions had improved by now or not. :dunno:

I really haven't ever considered doing a 'driving' trip up there, but I guess I didn't realize that there is a (nearly) direct highway route from me to Fairbanks. If we ever did this trip it would probably be next summer and probably take us several weeks. My bil ships out to Iraq this October, so it all depends on if his wife stays up there while he's gone.

OTOH, the RV-10 will be ready to fly sometime next spring, so an Alaskan flying trip is much more likely next year as well. ;)

For those that have driven it recently (within the last decade or so) -- was it passable by small car, or is a SUV type vehicle a necessity?
 
Most of the stories I have heard keep referring to the gravel roads and having to carry an extra set of tires b/c your original set will be worn out when you get there, etc.
Click to expand...
The Alaska Highway is certainly paved and in good condition. You can drive from the US to Alaska, and to all the major populations centers, all on asphalt roads. I'd certainly prefer to be in a car in good condition, with good tires, because repairs are likely to be a hassle, but there's certainly no need for piling up tires and gas tanks on your roof, or anything like that.

I did about 120 miles on the Denali Highway on very rough gravel:
http://www.meretrix.com/~harry/images/ak05/medium/20D_050916_1993.jpg
... but that was highly "optional" (a sensible person would have taken a different route).

I never went this far, but I think once you head North from Fairbanks, before long, you'll end up on gravel.
-harry
 
The only gravel you will experience on that route nowadays is in construction zones in Canada. Short season for road maintenance, so you will likely hit at least a couple. Never pass up a gas station either. As I said all the towns have the basics, but there is significant distance between towns where there is absolutely nothing but scenery. And watch out for animals on the road, one of my employees totaled his car fall before last in BC when he hit a black bear.
 
I did this drive in May of '07 from OK to Anchorage. I was on a pretty tight schedule and it took 6.5 days. We were driving from hotel to hotel, so sleeping stops were limited. Stayed in Denver, somewhere in MT, Edmonton, Fort Nelson, Watson Lake, Tok, and then Anchortown. Not a bad drive, but timing resulted in some long (approx 14 hr) days including lunch and gas stops. My strong recommendation is to pick up a copy of the Milepost. Lots of good info and things to do along the way. http://milepost.com/ can be found at most major bookstores.
 
I've always wanted to go to Barrow, Alaska because of the remoteness. I believe it is also the northernmost city in the US? I don't think there are any roads there though.
 
CJones said:
Wow.. Sounds like it is more common than I expected.

Most of the stories I have heard keep referring to the gravel roads and having to carry an extra set of tires b/c your original set will be worn out when you get there, etc. etc. Of course, these trips were taking place in the 60's-70's-early 80's I think. I didn't know if conditions had improved by now or not. :dunno:

I really haven't ever considered doing a 'driving' trip up there, but I guess I didn't realize that there is a (nearly) direct highway route from me to Fairbanks. If we ever did this trip it would probably be next summer and probably take us several weeks. My bil ships out to Iraq this October, so it all depends on if his wife stays up there while he's gone.

OTOH, the RV-10 will be ready to fly sometime next spring, so an Alaskan flying trip is much more likely next year as well. ;)

For those that have driven it recently (within the last decade or so) -- was it passable by small car, or is a SUV type vehicle a necessity?
Click to expand...

Iowa to Fairbanks, is a trip across the prairie the towns will be like any small town in the flat land states of the US. the roads will be mostly 2 lanes and light traffic.

After Grande Prairie you'll get the mountains. and will discover what frost heaves are. It is a long trip but worth doing. Go early or take lots of OFF.
 
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