Driving to Alaska and the Alaska Highway

Alaska plates on a camper in the “lower 48” is a sure conversation starter. “What is the drive to Alaska like”, or “how is the road” are common questions. I can say, the drive to Alaska is an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. I can also say it is a long distance and requires a lot of driving – but it is worth every mile traveled!

The highway through Canada travels past some remote, but gorgeous terrain. Wildlife is extremely plentiful on many stretches of this road, especially if you travel very early in the morning or late in the day, like us photographers do. I remember one day when I saw moose, elk, caribou, bison, sheep and 13 black bears. I have also seen coyote, fox and wolves (once).

The best resource for information about the Highway has to be the Milepost. It is a must have, with mile by mile descriptions of all the routes to Alaska, along with the road system within Alaska. You will see a copy sitting on the dash of most RV’s driving to or from Alaska.

The Alaska Highway provides the most direct route to Alaska , but there are a number of roundabout ways through Canada to Alaska, and my advice is to take these on your way up and save the direct route for the trip home. I find at the end of a long trip I’m a little road weary and more eager to return home, and thus, less likely to explore.

One of my favorite alternative routes is the Cassiar Highway. For those traveling from the West Coast the Cassiar is actually a shorter route than the Alaska Highway, but slower. The Cassiar is a remote stretch of highway that travels through some of the most beautiful country anywhere in North America. Many clear streams, big trees and wildlife. Be sure to take the side trip over to the coast at Stewart/Hyder, a great place for bear viewing, along with more spectacular scenery. Much of this country has been used as the backdrop for major movie productions for good reason. The Cassiar Highway meets up with the Alaska Highway near Watson Lake.

From the Alaska Highway a must do side trip, in my opinion, is going over to Skagway on the historic Klondike Highway. Tons of history, not too mention a beautiful drive. In fact, anytime you cross over the coastal mountains to the coast it is a spectacular drive and that includes trips to Stewart/Hyder, Skagway, Haines, Valdez, Whittier or Seward. From Skagway you can catch a short ferry ride to Haines and then drive the Haines Highway back to the Alaska Highway, the two highways meet at Haines Junction. This makes for one fantastic open ended loop.

Haines Junction north is the worst section of highway. A couple of large highway projects have recently wrapped up so the summer of 2005 should be better. But be warned, even paved stretches that are not under construction have some large frost heaves, you will want to slow way down. Along the entire highway there are red flags that signify bad parts of the road, but in British Columbia and southern Yukon the so called “bumps” are really insignificant. Don’t be lured asleep by the boy who cried wolf syndrome, because those red flags really mean something in the Yukon north of Whitehorse!!

On the return trip you can save a lot of time by just sticking with the Alaska Highway. There does tend to be more wildlife along the main highway, and still plenty of great sights. Make sure to allow time to stop at Laird Hot Springs, the Springs are incredibly invigorating after a long day on the road. Depending on your final destination, if at all possible, make sure one of your legs takes you through the Canadian Rockies including Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. These Parks are among some of my favorite places and shouldn’t be missed.

If you want to avoid the long drive home there are a couple of options. The Alaska State Ferry makes a few Gulf crossings making it possible to catch the ferry in Seward or Whittier, and take it all the way down to Prince George. There is daily ferry service heading south from Haines and Skagway, another good option. If you do take the ferry be sure to stop for a day or two as you pass through Southeastern Alaska. Juneau and Sitka are two of my favorites.

You can also ship your RV back on a TOTE cargo ship. Since few goods and services are produced in Alaska the ships usually have a lot of excess capacity on the return trip to Tacoma. Because of this, Tote offers reduced pricing to ship your RV south. The TOTE website has more information.

All in all, the drive to Alaska is relatively easy and a lot of fun. I remember as a kid in Glennallen seeing RV’s passing through with spare tires and gas cans on the roof, and elaborate fencing across the front for protection from rocks. I had some interesting trips down that highway on my way to college during the mid 80’s. Today, it is far less difficult and a great adventure; something everyone should experience at least once in their life.

Update in 2006.

I drove the Alaska Highway again in October, 2005. The Highway was in good condition for the most part. From Haines Junction to the Alaska border is still the worse, and you will want to take this stretch slower then the rest. Much of the very narrow curvy stretch of road along Kulane Lake was being replaced. They were working hard to finish this project when I passed through, it looked close to being ready for pavement, but it was also snowing at the time, so I’m not sure if it was completed before winter set in. If not, I’m sure it will be done in early summer of 2006.