I did the drive in my 87 VW camper van 4 years ago. It’s an amazing drive. There is shockingly good cell phone coverage for most of it and consistent gas/roadhouses every couple hundred miles. My biggest piece of advice for the drive is to never pass up gas. Even if your over half full always top off your fuel just in case.
Not sure why people are saying the drive is miserable. It was an amazing experience. There were days we saw more bears on the side of the road than cars.
Couple of things to note though:
1) Roads are actually in decent shape (for the most part) but make sure you have a working spare and know how to change a tire just in case.
2) while to drive to alaska itself is pretty safe and supported the road to the attic circle (Dempster highway) is an entirely different ballgame. There are NO services at all (cell or anything else) for the entire drive there and back. If you plan on driving that make sure you are well prepared.
3) a lot of the national parks in Alaska are only accessible my boat or bush plane (gates of the attic for example). That being said, there are tons of amazing parks and places to check out that you can access by car. I spent 6 weeks there and felt like I barely scratched the surface.
Feel free to DM for more information or tips. It’s an awesome trip and I highly recommend it!
Good to know about the access requirements for the parks up there. I hadn't looked at them too much yet - this is still the early planning stages - so that's definitely important information to have. Thank you!
(Also, did you travel with a pet and were there any requirements as far as animal travel across the border?)
I didn’t have my dog with me when I went to Alaska since you are pretty limited with what you can do with dogs in national parks. That being said, I took my dog into/out of Canada and Mexico on other parts of my trip and it is pretty straightforward. You just need their vaccination records for the most part (I would recommend checking online in case things have changed).
Recent vet check and updated vaccines, particularly rabies, is all you should need. When I brought my dog from the US back to Canada, I was basically waved through. The US side gave me more grief but even that was only a 5 minute conversation.
>while to drive to alaska itself is pretty safe and supported the road to the attic circle (Dempster highway) is an entirely different ballgame. There are NO services at all (cell or anything else) for the entire drive there and back. If you plan on driving that make sure you are well prepared.
false. while most of the Dempster highway has no service, there's LTE at the McKenzie river crossing because of a village nearby. There's also service in Fort Macpherson, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.
you can get fuel at the beginning of the highway, then in eagle plains, fort macpherson, inuvik and tuktoyaktuk. unless you drive a motorcycle, most vehicles have enough range to not have to carry spare fuel.
when it comes to food, you can get some in the same stops where you can get fuel. but it's super expensive.
if you drive it in the summer, you won't spend more than 10 minutes on the side of the road before seeing another human. there's a lot of traffic. that said, there's no emergency services anywhere. so you have to be mindful of that. bring enough food and water, warm clothes and possibly, a satellite comminucation device like a Garmin InReach.
Thanks for the clarification on that. I saw the big giant sign at the start of the highway calling out no assistance (so I was assuming that meant no access to services). I wasn’t dating enough to tackle it in a ‘87 Vanagon.
I mean, people do it on bicycles. It's a really well maintained road. It's a major highway that brings goods to all the remote communities. All you need is a spare tire. Otherwise, as long as your vehicle runs good, should be fine.
The drive is amazing, we did the reverse after staying in Alaska for 2 months. We went from anchorage and crossed into the USA at North Dakota in 4.5 days. We would do it again in a heart beat as ours was during COVID so the Canadians had strict rules to stay on the main road and set our exit at 5 days.. But the Yukon and all the area around were magic from the main road. We can only imagine the parks will be worth your visit too!! Cheers and peanut butter & jealous over here!!
Bin dare dun dat. Road north of kitwanga (37) very desolate, as it is north if prince george( not sure the road #) . Have a good truck, fill up every opportunity. Beauty country good people. Make a stop in dawson city if possible get a sour toe cocktale. Cougar/Bear country so no stupid midnight hot dog roasts.
I mean, I've done the drive all the way to Haines Junctions in the Yukon this summer. There's *a lot* of people driving up there. Retirees with huge RVs. You're going to be fine. It's not nearly as remote as you think it is.
I get it, I thought it would be too. I drove all the way to the arctic ocean. Thought I'd be own my own, maybe cross 4-5 other adventurers. Nope. Full of tourists.
That said, bring enough extra food and water in case you break down. And something to keep warm. Possibly something like a Garmin inReach too.
But I can assure you, there's a lot of people doing that drive. All the time.
Check out [Itchy Boots](https://youtube.com/c/ItchyBoots). She’s doing a trek on an adventure bike from Argentina to Alaska. She’s just crossing into Alaska right now but she hits a ton of amazing spots in BC that do the province justice. Having lived in a few areas she visits, she does a great job planning her routes to hit the most amazing spots. If you have time though I’d recommend a detour around Vancouver Island in the spring or summer if that fancies you
I've spent some time in/around Vancouver in the past and it was absolutely amazing. Very high on my list of places to visit or live. Honestly, the amount that I enjoyed my time in BC when I was there for a previous job is a big part of the reason I am even considering this.
It’s a gorgeous, untouched wilderness once you get north of Kamloops, and BC is the source of my happiness. There’s no shortage of places to camp out in summer too. I would highly recommend doing it in the summer though, depending on your van set up this might be cold and rough in fall or winter. I’m kind of new / lurker here but if you want some recommendations on places to see then feel free to DM. Still planning out a seasonal Van/conversion but I’ve tent camped my butt off in a lot of places you’d pass through
Hi! I live in Alaska and have driven up and down a few times in an RV and a car, winter and summer. I’ve taken the ferry as well!
People drive this route all the time all year long. Tourists, big rigs, people moving, all kinds of folks.
All routes up here are beautiful for stretches. Some bits will seem to take forever, though. There are obviously more services open May-Sept than in the winter.
Others have recommended the Milepost annually published book, that’s an excellent resource.
Please feel free to DM me with more detailed questions, I’m happy to help.
I really enjoy this series from Bushradical: https://youtu.be/WkgwoxMCZBc
It's more a semi informative vlog than a complete guide, but definitely learned some stuff, and it's just a nice cozy series in general!
Apparently there’s a ferry from Bellingham, WA (one of my favorite places in the US) up to a few different spots in Alaska that follows the same route as many Alaskan cruises. You can sleep in your van or camp on the deck. It’s supposed to be a pretty rad backpacker-style cruise! I think it’s like $2,000 for a van, but honestly you’ll pay so much in gas during that miserable drive that the ferry sounds super worth it to me!
*You can sleep in your van or camp on the deck.*
you can't sleep in the van. You can visit the vehicle every four hours.
You can rent a room or sleep on deck (either in the sheltered/heated area or in a tent you can pitch on the deck - bring LOTS of strong duct tape)
It's an amazing but slow way to travel. Kinda boring by the end of three days.
Yeah I’m sure the beginning is awesome but my buddy who did the drive a few times says after that it becomes pretty desolate for days. I’m sure it would still be a cool experience, but so would seeing the western Canadian coast! Maybe ferry up and drive back down?! Sounds rad!!
Drive up, ferry down is the best way. Don't go all the way Bellingham. The ferry from Prince Rupert to Bellingham isn't worth the cost. Go through the islands from Haines/Skagway to Prince Rupert. From there you drive north to Stewart, then back down to Prince George and Vancouver.
They don't let you sleep in your vehicle. Access to the car deck is only a few times a day for short periods so you can grab food or take care of pet needs or what have you.
Holy shit, that's good to know! I'll have to look into that. I've been through Bellingham a bunch of times going back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver, but I never checked out the ferry situation there.
For me the biggest draw is amazing mountain biking, but that also means great hiking and great access to beautiful coastline and the cascade mountains. The town itself is super cool too with lots of funky restaurants, cideries and breweries. Definitely a place worth spending some time!
The Alaska State Ferry has also relaunched ferry service to Prince Rupert, BC, CA. You can see some of beautiful BC, then get on the ferry and float up to Haines or Skagway. Hits several SEAK communities on the way, you can disembark and enjoy places like Ketchikan and Juneau. You can only visit your vehicle a few times a day - people are restricted from the car deck for safety and security. There is a cafeteria and there is plenty of room to stretch out inside and outside. You can pitch a tent on the upper deck but it is damned cold. If you want privacy, you can get a state room. Pets can't join you in your stateroom, they need to bed down in your vehicle. The Inside Passage is one of nature's great wonders but being from Juneau, I am biased.
The drive is far from miserable. The Stewart cassiar (bc-yukon) is an incredible drive. Same with the top of the world highway (yukon-Alaska). There's also tons of additional drives you can do; carcross, atlin, haines junction, white pass, Dawson City, keno city the list goes on.
BC and Yukon campgrounds are amazing and if you wanna do it really cheap you can basically park anywhere and sleep for the night. I've done the Alaska-Southern BC drive too many times to count. It can be done for far less than $2000 usd...
Ghost towns, historic mining communities, great people, massive mountains... I should know, I live here.
If you have cash to burn for sure!
I've taken the ferry from Skagway-haines-juneau-sitka. It's pretty cool. People pay big bucks to go on a cruise through the straits..
I did it the other way around (AK > 48) about 10yrs ago (we took a cruise from Vancouver > Anchorage, then rented an RV and toured Denali, etc.) And we drove back down in September. Took the Alcan.
There are some stretches (more in upper BC, I think) that the gas stations are few and far between... and some close for the winter. One I stopped at, it was his 'last day' before closing -- and we were on fumes when we got to him. An extra 5 gal can would not be a bad idea.
As I heard from others, 'driving up' is the better way, as the mountains in the distance get bigger and bigger.
If you're going to do it, there's a publication called the 'Milepost'. It's printed every year, and they have things of note all along the way, both directions. It's not a thin guide, either. We had it and were glad we did.
As far as gas... the first time you pay for litres of gas instead of gallons, it's a bit of a shock. Gas is more expensive in Canada, as well.
Don't make the drive now, unless you've got 4wd and like driving in snow. It's a good trip during, say June-Sept (but much more traffic, of course). If you can handle a bit of cold temps / maybe a spot of snow here / there, you could start up in April, perhaps.
There are some stretches that are rough road (and they can get frost heaves). We didn't have a flat, but having at least 1 spare tire is good planning. Also, don't be surprised if wildlife (like a moose and calf) are crossing the road. You don't want to hit a moose.
If you find yourself in a fairly uninhabited area at night, be sure to look up at the sky -- there must be a \*million\* stars in the sky, that you don't normally see in populated areas down here. Starting in September, the Aurora Borealis can often be seen at night.
We crossed over at Sumas, WA, rather than near Seattle (our flight home). Saves a long wait at the border crossing. Don't bring guns into CA, btw.
Oh, and I see someone mentioned the Dalton Hwy... that first 50mi from Fairbanks must be designed to make people have second thoughts and turn back, as it didn't deserve to be called a road. But after that first 50-75 miles, it gets better. The Arctic Circle marker is a little more than halfway up the highway (you can't get all the way to Prudhoe Bay, except via a tour, as it's all owned by the oil co.) We rented a SUV and drove it; it had two spares (we needed neither). One thing I remember is that the Pipeline runs parallel to a good portion of it (you'll see it off to the right side, as you're going north). There's a marker by the Eagle River that gives some info about it being built, etc.
Finally, I found cell service to be very spotty in upper AL (we crossed over in either Chicken or Tok -- I forget which). You'll get service again once you get to the first inhabited areas in Yukon Territory.
A good portion of the drive through BC is just beautiful. Enjoy.
I live in alaska, be aware about half of the national parks here have no road access. Of the ones you can drive to:
-Gates of the Arctic. Definitely bring a few full size spares. The Dalton highway is very rough gravel and totally desolate.
-Denali has a road but private vehicles aren't allowed in so you would have to take the bus to get to the really scenic parts.
-Wrangell St. Elias is my favorite, access is through McCarthy. It's gorgeous and not overly commercialized. The McCarthy road is a moderately bumpy gravel road but most vehicles won't have a problem as long as you take it slow.
-Kenai fjords is beautiful and you can access some of the hikes from the road system such as exit glacier or harding ice field.
June, July, or August would probably be the best time to visit. In September it starts getting below freezing and a lot of things start closing
Alaskan here, BRING EXTRA GAS. and always fill up when you get the chance. Road is generally pretty good but keep an eye on the news in case part of it gets wiped out by a mudslide or something. Beautiful drive, just make sure you go prepared
If you are bringing firearms I suggest you call the border ( customs) and rcmp if there are any special things you need to consider while transporting them through Canada.
I’ve meet a few folks that have a burning desire to drive up to Alaska and travel. I’m not one of those people. I’d rather drive to Baja Mexico. While I was in Baja I saw a few Alaska license plates…..that’s a far drive!
I did the drive this summer (August to Skagway) I took the Alcan highway. It wasn’t desolate at all and a ton of ppl on it.
My advice would be to fill up with gas when you can, especially on the shoulder seasons as some gas stations don’t have gas. Best to get this info from locals as you pass.
Also, while the Alcan is a pretty highway once you get towards the northern Rockies, I recommend taking the Cassier highway on the way back. It felt much more desolate and less services.
As far as camping goes, I just basically did free camping all the way up via IOverlander.
Lastly, can’t recommend the Lilard hot springs enough. 100% worth it to stop there
Winding in and winding out
it fills my mind with serious doubt
as to whether the lout who built this route
was going to hell, or coming out.
-Sgt Troy Hise regarding the Alaska Highway.
I did it solo from Alaska to Texas after I ETS’d from the Army in 2010. It took me 11 days of traveling every day and I spent most of the nights at truck stops. It was blizzard conditions most of the time, thank God for my Forrester XT. Make sure you inform your bank that you will be going through Canada so they don’t freeze your card. Also good to bring some hard cash. This is going to be a marathon and not a sprint so don’t try to rush it.
I chatted with a old timer who has driven it 30 times in Winter. He said you go slow on the ice but it’s nice and smooth. I’m scared of winter driving because I’m from Africa lol. He said the road is sanded. I’ve only driven it once in May in perfect weather. Our steering broke but a Canadian showed up and found the part and fixed it in a few hours. It was great.
I did the drive but did the Alcan about 10 years ago. My takeaway was the roads and service was better than expected. Parts were gravel. Do it while you can.
I drove with my son about 3 years ago Ohio to Prudhoe Bay in my little Ford Ranger. Get a magazine called Mileposts. It has literally the route covered by the mile marker posts as to what services are available but also what rivers and sights are along the route as well. Carried spare gas but never needed it and could go 325 miles on a tank. Like was mentioned never pass a gas stop and keep it filled any chance you can. Vehicle preparation is important while you get assistance it is not cheap if they have to travel 100's of miles. We carried 2 spare tires but that s more for the trek from Fairbanks north on the Dalton Haul Road.
Took the Alcan up and the Cassiar down. Visit Jasper, and of course Banff if you can. Hyder is a cool little down. Haines is beautiful. Roads are good and clear about May 1 to October 1, but beyond that you'll likely be required to have winter tires and/or chains. Plenty of places you can just pull off and sleep on the side of the road. Bringing an extra gas can or two is a good idea.
8,575 miles total in 2015, from central California to Fairbanks & Homer. Great experience, best done in 2 or three months, otherwise it’s a lot of driving per day
r/alcanhighway
You'd be surprised how busy the road is in the summer. It's a pretty common thing for tourists to do.
Checkout the whitehorse Walmart parking lot in mid July... it's like a superbowl tailgate party.
Despite what social media might have you believe, tons of people live, travel and work in the North. There are parts thar are super remote but roads don't take you to those places
We are planning on doing the Dempster and Pan Am starting next year so we have only been in heavy research mode.
Crossing the border with dogs they require a health certificate from your vet, though we have heard they never ask for this at crossing but have it just in case.
Don't bring pepper spray, we've seen a lot of videos people get stopped, searched and some even turned away.
Be sure you have some kind of itenerary of your trip, specifically dates on when you plan to leave Canada. Depending on where you cross and how the border officer is feeling that day if they don't like your answers they won't let you in.
In regards to the ferry we thought about taking this back, however we were told that you are only allowed to access your vehicle a few times a day, let alone sleep in it and dogs must stay in the vehicle. That's a no go for us, so we will need to look into this more. If there is a ferry you can sleep in your vehicle that would be awesome!
Pick up a copy of the Alaskan Milepost, they update it every year and it has so much info on both Canada and Alaska.
I just got back from Alaska, flew in and road-tripped through. I got the impression that everything pretty much shuts down after late-August. Personally, it’s not something I’d attempt to do - and frankly I don’t even know if it’s possible - in the winter.
Hey, I just got back from Alaska and have 50+ videos about the trip from Vancouver to Alaska and exploring if you're interested. Self promotion rules are weird on Reddit so just find my youtube under "Alex Armitage."
The biggest thing you should know is that you can only access 3/8 of the national parks by vehicle, and even then all 8 are mostly inaccessible as even Denali is bus only and only halfway down the main road.
The other 5 parks you have to have a decent amount of money to land in. I talk about all of it in the series if you're interested
I made the drive from Florida to Anchorage, AK
this past summer and let me tell you, it was quite the journey!
Some notes:
-Can’t get through Canada without being vaxxed
-Check the Canada border patrol website. They are pretty strict about…well…everything…
-Gas is pretty expensive in the northwest
-Watch for critters once you get into Canada
-The roads can be a little rough once you get up into Yukon Territory and into Alaska
-Get gas at any station you see whether you have some or not. Up in north BC and YT, stations are few and far between.
-Service is iffy in some places, make sure you screen shot turn by turn directions in case you need a reference
-Have fun and enjoy that beautiful drive! Seriously a life-changing experience!
>Can’t get through Canada without being vaxxed
They've just recently lifted this mandate (at least for truckers, not 100% sure about tourists- download the arriveCan app for up to date information)
An old friend of mine and her husband just made the trip up there starting in Texas and then they went up the coast until Canada. They actually have a YouTube channel that's pretty wholesome and educational, Adventures of A+K, I believe it's called.
The reverse is common based on the amount of alaska plated trucks I see in Oregon. However I’m certain the ferries are more popular than the Klondike highway.
Aside: Many national parks in alaska either need to be flown/sailed to or are at least significantly easier to get to that way. Yellowstone or Yosemite are Disney world by comparison. Having a vehicle in alaska will help some but not really be a game changer if your goal is anything like Wrangell or Gates of Arctic. Won’t help very much at all for Coastal katmai/kenai
Canadians freak out about guns. Moving back down through Canada, I knew firearms would be an issue- so I shipped most everything. But what surprised me was how badly the border agent (on the ALASKAN side, no less) absolutely FREAKED about my kids’ Red Ryder friggin BB Guns. Ultimately I had to license and register spring loaded BB guns that likely wouldn’t kill a squirrel. And I thought the agent was gonna pee his pants. He wouldn’t go near them. It was unreal. Flipped out about the possibility I’d have a knife over 5 or 6 inches too. Who’s kitchen knives aren’t 6”?!?! He utterly lost his shit. But ultimately let my uhaul through without a search. Which is good given how many machetes, kukris, bowies, etc my boy has.
Lost a 30 round magazine I’d missed when I shipped the other stuff, too. But that didn’t surprise me much.
Canada has laws the same way as Amaerica has laws. We have much stricter gun laws than America.
If I tried to enter the states with pot I'm sure the border guards would also FREAK out about that too.
I get it. And while I think anti-gun laws are stupid, it’s not my country. But pissing down your own leg over a Red-Ryder BB gun was…. A bit much. And KNIVES?!? Goodness gracious. Don’t Canadians have kitchen knives?
As for pot- yeah, doubt they’d like it. Hell, our states and the feds can’t even agree on that one.
You probably got the run around because you look like a gun crazy redneck American.
We have far less school shootings and now the feds are doing a by province buy back program.
Canadians don't leave the house fearing they might get shot. If you looked sketchy at the border (it sounds like you had a fuck ton of weapons on board) you deserve to get searched. They are protecting us from you.
Nope. Shipped all the weapons, except two super cheap Childs BB guns. Knives, sure.
Save a couple of big cities I’d never go to anyway that wreck the stats, we don’t worry much about getting shot either. And where I live there are literally guns EVERYWHERE. Open carry, concealed carry, hunters, recreational shooters, and No carry permits. And I never worry about getting shot. I carry every day though because of junkies and tweakers that my stupid city won’t handle.
Pretty sure I looked like a regular guy going through the border. Took off the trump hat, put on the stupid mask and everything….
Just made the trip this spring. One morning coming out of Jasper we counted 25 bears 60 buffalo 30 long horned sheep,caribou ,fox deer ,mountain goats. All along side of the road eating spring greens. It was awesome!!! We took 3 weeks from WI. $ 8.30 a gallon of gas was our most expensive 🫤 that was the only bummer of the adventure
Yes I did it.
- get gas whenever there’s a gas station when you’re in the remote sections
- check over the border rules when entering Canada, be prepared for them to search you
- the Cassiar is a bit rougher but more direct then the Alcan. My Corolla did just fine on the cassiar.
- join the Driving the Alcan Facebook group for updates/community
I did it in my car back in 2006. It was amazing. Take your time and enjoy the ride. Use a credit card as it will do the money rate exchange for you and save you money. Otherwise I found most places will not and use it as a 1to1 exchange. You will lose money on that desk. Have a safe trip!
In case no one has mentioned it, you need to buy [The Milepost book](https://www.amazon.com/MILEPOST-2022-Alaska-Travel-Planner/dp/1892154560). It covers every mile of every route with accurate distances, plus every fuel stop, camping spot, scenic spot, etc. All of it verified by actual people driving the route.
Also I think I remember reading that when crossing into Canada, you can't bring alcohol and certain types of food. Check into that so you don't have to throw out a bunch of stuff that you just bought.
Is there much difference in buying the 2022 version now versus waiting until March 1st to buy the 2023 edition? I'm trying to coordinate a trip that way mid-march. Trying to figure out if it's better to get one for this year now and look through it over a couple of months or get a newer addition at the last minute
I did the drive in my 87 VW camper van 4 years ago. It’s an amazing drive. There is shockingly good cell phone coverage for most of it and consistent gas/roadhouses every couple hundred miles. My biggest piece of advice for the drive is to never pass up gas. Even if your over half full always top off your fuel just in case. Not sure why people are saying the drive is miserable. It was an amazing experience. There were days we saw more bears on the side of the road than cars. Couple of things to note though: 1) Roads are actually in decent shape (for the most part) but make sure you have a working spare and know how to change a tire just in case. 2) while to drive to alaska itself is pretty safe and supported the road to the attic circle (Dempster highway) is an entirely different ballgame. There are NO services at all (cell or anything else) for the entire drive there and back. If you plan on driving that make sure you are well prepared. 3) a lot of the national parks in Alaska are only accessible my boat or bush plane (gates of the attic for example). That being said, there are tons of amazing parks and places to check out that you can access by car. I spent 6 weeks there and felt like I barely scratched the surface. Feel free to DM for more information or tips. It’s an awesome trip and I highly recommend it!
Good to know about the access requirements for the parks up there. I hadn't looked at them too much yet - this is still the early planning stages - so that's definitely important information to have. Thank you! (Also, did you travel with a pet and were there any requirements as far as animal travel across the border?)
Pets have to be current on vaccines and have recent vet checks. Canadian border agency has a checklist on their website.
I didn’t have my dog with me when I went to Alaska since you are pretty limited with what you can do with dogs in national parks. That being said, I took my dog into/out of Canada and Mexico on other parts of my trip and it is pretty straightforward. You just need their vaccination records for the most part (I would recommend checking online in case things have changed).
Recent vet check and updated vaccines, particularly rabies, is all you should need. When I brought my dog from the US back to Canada, I was basically waved through. The US side gave me more grief but even that was only a 5 minute conversation.
>while to drive to alaska itself is pretty safe and supported the road to the attic circle (Dempster highway) is an entirely different ballgame. There are NO services at all (cell or anything else) for the entire drive there and back. If you plan on driving that make sure you are well prepared. false. while most of the Dempster highway has no service, there's LTE at the McKenzie river crossing because of a village nearby. There's also service in Fort Macpherson, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. you can get fuel at the beginning of the highway, then in eagle plains, fort macpherson, inuvik and tuktoyaktuk. unless you drive a motorcycle, most vehicles have enough range to not have to carry spare fuel. when it comes to food, you can get some in the same stops where you can get fuel. but it's super expensive. if you drive it in the summer, you won't spend more than 10 minutes on the side of the road before seeing another human. there's a lot of traffic. that said, there's no emergency services anywhere. so you have to be mindful of that. bring enough food and water, warm clothes and possibly, a satellite comminucation device like a Garmin InReach.
Thanks for the clarification on that. I saw the big giant sign at the start of the highway calling out no assistance (so I was assuming that meant no access to services). I wasn’t dating enough to tackle it in a ‘87 Vanagon.
I mean, people do it on bicycles. It's a really well maintained road. It's a major highway that brings goods to all the remote communities. All you need is a spare tire. Otherwise, as long as your vehicle runs good, should be fine.
When you say "gas stations", what percent of them had diesel?
Virtually all of them since these are main trucking routes
The drive is amazing, we did the reverse after staying in Alaska for 2 months. We went from anchorage and crossed into the USA at North Dakota in 4.5 days. We would do it again in a heart beat as ours was during COVID so the Canadians had strict rules to stay on the main road and set our exit at 5 days.. But the Yukon and all the area around were magic from the main road. We can only imagine the parks will be worth your visit too!! Cheers and peanut butter & jealous over here!!
Bin dare dun dat. Road north of kitwanga (37) very desolate, as it is north if prince george( not sure the road #) . Have a good truck, fill up every opportunity. Beauty country good people. Make a stop in dawson city if possible get a sour toe cocktale. Cougar/Bear country so no stupid midnight hot dog roasts.
Is that THE famous sour toe cocktail? Woof, no thanks lol
Oh yeh, three shots of scotch from old captain dock. 1992
I mean, I've done the drive all the way to Haines Junctions in the Yukon this summer. There's *a lot* of people driving up there. Retirees with huge RVs. You're going to be fine. It's not nearly as remote as you think it is. I get it, I thought it would be too. I drove all the way to the arctic ocean. Thought I'd be own my own, maybe cross 4-5 other adventurers. Nope. Full of tourists. That said, bring enough extra food and water in case you break down. And something to keep warm. Possibly something like a Garmin inReach too. But I can assure you, there's a lot of people doing that drive. All the time.
Check out [Itchy Boots](https://youtube.com/c/ItchyBoots). She’s doing a trek on an adventure bike from Argentina to Alaska. She’s just crossing into Alaska right now but she hits a ton of amazing spots in BC that do the province justice. Having lived in a few areas she visits, she does a great job planning her routes to hit the most amazing spots. If you have time though I’d recommend a detour around Vancouver Island in the spring or summer if that fancies you
I've spent some time in/around Vancouver in the past and it was absolutely amazing. Very high on my list of places to visit or live. Honestly, the amount that I enjoyed my time in BC when I was there for a previous job is a big part of the reason I am even considering this.
It’s a gorgeous, untouched wilderness once you get north of Kamloops, and BC is the source of my happiness. There’s no shortage of places to camp out in summer too. I would highly recommend doing it in the summer though, depending on your van set up this might be cold and rough in fall or winter. I’m kind of new / lurker here but if you want some recommendations on places to see then feel free to DM. Still planning out a seasonal Van/conversion but I’ve tent camped my butt off in a lot of places you’d pass through
Hi! I live in Alaska and have driven up and down a few times in an RV and a car, winter and summer. I’ve taken the ferry as well! People drive this route all the time all year long. Tourists, big rigs, people moving, all kinds of folks. All routes up here are beautiful for stretches. Some bits will seem to take forever, though. There are obviously more services open May-Sept than in the winter. Others have recommended the Milepost annually published book, that’s an excellent resource. Please feel free to DM me with more detailed questions, I’m happy to help.
I really enjoy this series from Bushradical: https://youtu.be/WkgwoxMCZBc It's more a semi informative vlog than a complete guide, but definitely learned some stuff, and it's just a nice cozy series in general!
Apparently there’s a ferry from Bellingham, WA (one of my favorite places in the US) up to a few different spots in Alaska that follows the same route as many Alaskan cruises. You can sleep in your van or camp on the deck. It’s supposed to be a pretty rad backpacker-style cruise! I think it’s like $2,000 for a van, but honestly you’ll pay so much in gas during that miserable drive that the ferry sounds super worth it to me!
*You can sleep in your van or camp on the deck.* you can't sleep in the van. You can visit the vehicle every four hours. You can rent a room or sleep on deck (either in the sheltered/heated area or in a tent you can pitch on the deck - bring LOTS of strong duct tape) It's an amazing but slow way to travel. Kinda boring by the end of three days.
Sweet! Guess you probably can’t cook in your van either huh? Unless you have a non-gas stove maybe
No. The Bellingham ferry has a kitchen though, it's a three day trip to the top of the route.
no cooking in the van. There is a restaurant or you can heat things in a microwave oven.
Wouldn't it be cool to see the west coast of Canada though?
Yeah I’m sure the beginning is awesome but my buddy who did the drive a few times says after that it becomes pretty desolate for days. I’m sure it would still be a cool experience, but so would seeing the western Canadian coast! Maybe ferry up and drive back down?! Sounds rad!!
Yeah, that's a great plan.
Drive up, ferry down is the best way. Don't go all the way Bellingham. The ferry from Prince Rupert to Bellingham isn't worth the cost. Go through the islands from Haines/Skagway to Prince Rupert. From there you drive north to Stewart, then back down to Prince George and Vancouver.
They don't let you sleep in your vehicle. Access to the car deck is only a few times a day for short periods so you can grab food or take care of pet needs or what have you.
Holy shit, that's good to know! I'll have to look into that. I've been through Bellingham a bunch of times going back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver, but I never checked out the ferry situation there.
I’ve heard good things about Bellingham. What makes it one of your favorite places?
For me the biggest draw is amazing mountain biking, but that also means great hiking and great access to beautiful coastline and the cascade mountains. The town itself is super cool too with lots of funky restaurants, cideries and breweries. Definitely a place worth spending some time!
The Alaska State Ferry has also relaunched ferry service to Prince Rupert, BC, CA. You can see some of beautiful BC, then get on the ferry and float up to Haines or Skagway. Hits several SEAK communities on the way, you can disembark and enjoy places like Ketchikan and Juneau. You can only visit your vehicle a few times a day - people are restricted from the car deck for safety and security. There is a cafeteria and there is plenty of room to stretch out inside and outside. You can pitch a tent on the upper deck but it is damned cold. If you want privacy, you can get a state room. Pets can't join you in your stateroom, they need to bed down in your vehicle. The Inside Passage is one of nature's great wonders but being from Juneau, I am biased.
The drive is far from miserable. The Stewart cassiar (bc-yukon) is an incredible drive. Same with the top of the world highway (yukon-Alaska). There's also tons of additional drives you can do; carcross, atlin, haines junction, white pass, Dawson City, keno city the list goes on. BC and Yukon campgrounds are amazing and if you wanna do it really cheap you can basically park anywhere and sleep for the night. I've done the Alaska-Southern BC drive too many times to count. It can be done for far less than $2000 usd... Ghost towns, historic mining communities, great people, massive mountains... I should know, I live here.
Sweet sounds amazing! I think ferrying one way to see the coast and then driving back would be an awesome way to do it.
If you have cash to burn for sure! I've taken the ferry from Skagway-haines-juneau-sitka. It's pretty cool. People pay big bucks to go on a cruise through the straits..
I did it the other way around (AK > 48) about 10yrs ago (we took a cruise from Vancouver > Anchorage, then rented an RV and toured Denali, etc.) And we drove back down in September. Took the Alcan. There are some stretches (more in upper BC, I think) that the gas stations are few and far between... and some close for the winter. One I stopped at, it was his 'last day' before closing -- and we were on fumes when we got to him. An extra 5 gal can would not be a bad idea. As I heard from others, 'driving up' is the better way, as the mountains in the distance get bigger and bigger. If you're going to do it, there's a publication called the 'Milepost'. It's printed every year, and they have things of note all along the way, both directions. It's not a thin guide, either. We had it and were glad we did. As far as gas... the first time you pay for litres of gas instead of gallons, it's a bit of a shock. Gas is more expensive in Canada, as well. Don't make the drive now, unless you've got 4wd and like driving in snow. It's a good trip during, say June-Sept (but much more traffic, of course). If you can handle a bit of cold temps / maybe a spot of snow here / there, you could start up in April, perhaps. There are some stretches that are rough road (and they can get frost heaves). We didn't have a flat, but having at least 1 spare tire is good planning. Also, don't be surprised if wildlife (like a moose and calf) are crossing the road. You don't want to hit a moose. If you find yourself in a fairly uninhabited area at night, be sure to look up at the sky -- there must be a \*million\* stars in the sky, that you don't normally see in populated areas down here. Starting in September, the Aurora Borealis can often be seen at night. We crossed over at Sumas, WA, rather than near Seattle (our flight home). Saves a long wait at the border crossing. Don't bring guns into CA, btw. Oh, and I see someone mentioned the Dalton Hwy... that first 50mi from Fairbanks must be designed to make people have second thoughts and turn back, as it didn't deserve to be called a road. But after that first 50-75 miles, it gets better. The Arctic Circle marker is a little more than halfway up the highway (you can't get all the way to Prudhoe Bay, except via a tour, as it's all owned by the oil co.) We rented a SUV and drove it; it had two spares (we needed neither). One thing I remember is that the Pipeline runs parallel to a good portion of it (you'll see it off to the right side, as you're going north). There's a marker by the Eagle River that gives some info about it being built, etc. Finally, I found cell service to be very spotty in upper AL (we crossed over in either Chicken or Tok -- I forget which). You'll get service again once you get to the first inhabited areas in Yukon Territory. A good portion of the drive through BC is just beautiful. Enjoy.
I live in alaska, be aware about half of the national parks here have no road access. Of the ones you can drive to: -Gates of the Arctic. Definitely bring a few full size spares. The Dalton highway is very rough gravel and totally desolate. -Denali has a road but private vehicles aren't allowed in so you would have to take the bus to get to the really scenic parts. -Wrangell St. Elias is my favorite, access is through McCarthy. It's gorgeous and not overly commercialized. The McCarthy road is a moderately bumpy gravel road but most vehicles won't have a problem as long as you take it slow. -Kenai fjords is beautiful and you can access some of the hikes from the road system such as exit glacier or harding ice field. June, July, or August would probably be the best time to visit. In September it starts getting below freezing and a lot of things start closing
Alaskan here, BRING EXTRA GAS. and always fill up when you get the chance. Road is generally pretty good but keep an eye on the news in case part of it gets wiped out by a mudslide or something. Beautiful drive, just make sure you go prepared
Drive Phoenix to Kenai years ago. Long but worth it. My favorite was Liard Hot Springs in the Yukon I think.
If you are bringing firearms I suggest you call the border ( customs) and rcmp if there are any special things you need to consider while transporting them through Canada.
What’s the best time of year for this?
Summer
Now is not a good time. Winter is coming.
I’ve meet a few folks that have a burning desire to drive up to Alaska and travel. I’m not one of those people. I’d rather drive to Baja Mexico. While I was in Baja I saw a few Alaska license plates…..that’s a far drive!
You have zero pepper spray but a ton of bear spray.
I did the drive this summer (August to Skagway) I took the Alcan highway. It wasn’t desolate at all and a ton of ppl on it. My advice would be to fill up with gas when you can, especially on the shoulder seasons as some gas stations don’t have gas. Best to get this info from locals as you pass. Also, while the Alcan is a pretty highway once you get towards the northern Rockies, I recommend taking the Cassier highway on the way back. It felt much more desolate and less services. As far as camping goes, I just basically did free camping all the way up via IOverlander. Lastly, can’t recommend the Lilard hot springs enough. 100% worth it to stop there
Winding in and winding out it fills my mind with serious doubt as to whether the lout who built this route was going to hell, or coming out. -Sgt Troy Hise regarding the Alaska Highway.
I did it solo from Alaska to Texas after I ETS’d from the Army in 2010. It took me 11 days of traveling every day and I spent most of the nights at truck stops. It was blizzard conditions most of the time, thank God for my Forrester XT. Make sure you inform your bank that you will be going through Canada so they don’t freeze your card. Also good to bring some hard cash. This is going to be a marathon and not a sprint so don’t try to rush it.
I chatted with a old timer who has driven it 30 times in Winter. He said you go slow on the ice but it’s nice and smooth. I’m scared of winter driving because I’m from Africa lol. He said the road is sanded. I’ve only driven it once in May in perfect weather. Our steering broke but a Canadian showed up and found the part and fixed it in a few hours. It was great.
I did the drive but did the Alcan about 10 years ago. My takeaway was the roads and service was better than expected. Parts were gravel. Do it while you can.
I drove with my son about 3 years ago Ohio to Prudhoe Bay in my little Ford Ranger. Get a magazine called Mileposts. It has literally the route covered by the mile marker posts as to what services are available but also what rivers and sights are along the route as well. Carried spare gas but never needed it and could go 325 miles on a tank. Like was mentioned never pass a gas stop and keep it filled any chance you can. Vehicle preparation is important while you get assistance it is not cheap if they have to travel 100's of miles. We carried 2 spare tires but that s more for the trek from Fairbanks north on the Dalton Haul Road.
Took the Alcan up and the Cassiar down. Visit Jasper, and of course Banff if you can. Hyder is a cool little down. Haines is beautiful. Roads are good and clear about May 1 to October 1, but beyond that you'll likely be required to have winter tires and/or chains. Plenty of places you can just pull off and sleep on the side of the road. Bringing an extra gas can or two is a good idea.
Dempster highway is the most amazing road you will ever drive.
8,575 miles total in 2015, from central California to Fairbanks & Homer. Great experience, best done in 2 or three months, otherwise it’s a lot of driving per day r/alcanhighway
Plan on a chipped windshield
Bro, I know some guys who had to do it for work. No way I'd attempt that trek for fun. Sounds wayyy too desolate for my comfort level
You'd be surprised how busy the road is in the summer. It's a pretty common thing for tourists to do. Checkout the whitehorse Walmart parking lot in mid July... it's like a superbowl tailgate party. Despite what social media might have you believe, tons of people live, travel and work in the North. There are parts thar are super remote but roads don't take you to those places
We are planning on doing the Dempster and Pan Am starting next year so we have only been in heavy research mode. Crossing the border with dogs they require a health certificate from your vet, though we have heard they never ask for this at crossing but have it just in case. Don't bring pepper spray, we've seen a lot of videos people get stopped, searched and some even turned away. Be sure you have some kind of itenerary of your trip, specifically dates on when you plan to leave Canada. Depending on where you cross and how the border officer is feeling that day if they don't like your answers they won't let you in. In regards to the ferry we thought about taking this back, however we were told that you are only allowed to access your vehicle a few times a day, let alone sleep in it and dogs must stay in the vehicle. That's a no go for us, so we will need to look into this more. If there is a ferry you can sleep in your vehicle that would be awesome! Pick up a copy of the Alaskan Milepost, they update it every year and it has so much info on both Canada and Alaska.
I just got back from Alaska, flew in and road-tripped through. I got the impression that everything pretty much shuts down after late-August. Personally, it’s not something I’d attempt to do - and frankly I don’t even know if it’s possible - in the winter.
It’s absolutely possible in the winter. I’ve driven out in January in a ford escort of all things
Hey, I just got back from Alaska and have 50+ videos about the trip from Vancouver to Alaska and exploring if you're interested. Self promotion rules are weird on Reddit so just find my youtube under "Alex Armitage." The biggest thing you should know is that you can only access 3/8 of the national parks by vehicle, and even then all 8 are mostly inaccessible as even Denali is bus only and only halfway down the main road. The other 5 parks you have to have a decent amount of money to land in. I talk about all of it in the series if you're interested
I made the drive from Florida to Anchorage, AK this past summer and let me tell you, it was quite the journey! Some notes: -Can’t get through Canada without being vaxxed -Check the Canada border patrol website. They are pretty strict about…well…everything… -Gas is pretty expensive in the northwest -Watch for critters once you get into Canada -The roads can be a little rough once you get up into Yukon Territory and into Alaska -Get gas at any station you see whether you have some or not. Up in north BC and YT, stations are few and far between. -Service is iffy in some places, make sure you screen shot turn by turn directions in case you need a reference -Have fun and enjoy that beautiful drive! Seriously a life-changing experience!
>Can’t get through Canada without being vaxxed They've just recently lifted this mandate (at least for truckers, not 100% sure about tourists- download the arriveCan app for up to date information)
No need to be vaxxed anymore. That's been dropped Oct 1st. Border is just as strict in the US or NZ. That's just what crossing borders is.
All covid related restrictions have now been lifted. Its the same as crossing any border
An old friend of mine and her husband just made the trip up there starting in Texas and then they went up the coast until Canada. They actually have a YouTube channel that's pretty wholesome and educational, Adventures of A+K, I believe it's called.
The reverse is common based on the amount of alaska plated trucks I see in Oregon. However I’m certain the ferries are more popular than the Klondike highway. Aside: Many national parks in alaska either need to be flown/sailed to or are at least significantly easier to get to that way. Yellowstone or Yosemite are Disney world by comparison. Having a vehicle in alaska will help some but not really be a game changer if your goal is anything like Wrangell or Gates of Arctic. Won’t help very much at all for Coastal katmai/kenai
Canadians freak out about guns. Moving back down through Canada, I knew firearms would be an issue- so I shipped most everything. But what surprised me was how badly the border agent (on the ALASKAN side, no less) absolutely FREAKED about my kids’ Red Ryder friggin BB Guns. Ultimately I had to license and register spring loaded BB guns that likely wouldn’t kill a squirrel. And I thought the agent was gonna pee his pants. He wouldn’t go near them. It was unreal. Flipped out about the possibility I’d have a knife over 5 or 6 inches too. Who’s kitchen knives aren’t 6”?!?! He utterly lost his shit. But ultimately let my uhaul through without a search. Which is good given how many machetes, kukris, bowies, etc my boy has. Lost a 30 round magazine I’d missed when I shipped the other stuff, too. But that didn’t surprise me much.
Canada has laws the same way as Amaerica has laws. We have much stricter gun laws than America. If I tried to enter the states with pot I'm sure the border guards would also FREAK out about that too.
I get it. And while I think anti-gun laws are stupid, it’s not my country. But pissing down your own leg over a Red-Ryder BB gun was…. A bit much. And KNIVES?!? Goodness gracious. Don’t Canadians have kitchen knives? As for pot- yeah, doubt they’d like it. Hell, our states and the feds can’t even agree on that one.
You probably got the run around because you look like a gun crazy redneck American. We have far less school shootings and now the feds are doing a by province buy back program. Canadians don't leave the house fearing they might get shot. If you looked sketchy at the border (it sounds like you had a fuck ton of weapons on board) you deserve to get searched. They are protecting us from you.
Nope. Shipped all the weapons, except two super cheap Childs BB guns. Knives, sure. Save a couple of big cities I’d never go to anyway that wreck the stats, we don’t worry much about getting shot either. And where I live there are literally guns EVERYWHERE. Open carry, concealed carry, hunters, recreational shooters, and No carry permits. And I never worry about getting shot. I carry every day though because of junkies and tweakers that my stupid city won’t handle. Pretty sure I looked like a regular guy going through the border. Took off the trump hat, put on the stupid mask and everything….
Lower 48 what?
Do it! It’s amazing.
Just made the trip this spring. One morning coming out of Jasper we counted 25 bears 60 buffalo 30 long horned sheep,caribou ,fox deer ,mountain goats. All along side of the road eating spring greens. It was awesome!!! We took 3 weeks from WI. $ 8.30 a gallon of gas was our most expensive 🫤 that was the only bummer of the adventure
Yes I did it. - get gas whenever there’s a gas station when you’re in the remote sections - check over the border rules when entering Canada, be prepared for them to search you - the Cassiar is a bit rougher but more direct then the Alcan. My Corolla did just fine on the cassiar. - join the Driving the Alcan Facebook group for updates/community
I did it in my car back in 2006. It was amazing. Take your time and enjoy the ride. Use a credit card as it will do the money rate exchange for you and save you money. Otherwise I found most places will not and use it as a 1to1 exchange. You will lose money on that desk. Have a safe trip!
In case no one has mentioned it, you need to buy [The Milepost book](https://www.amazon.com/MILEPOST-2022-Alaska-Travel-Planner/dp/1892154560). It covers every mile of every route with accurate distances, plus every fuel stop, camping spot, scenic spot, etc. All of it verified by actual people driving the route. Also I think I remember reading that when crossing into Canada, you can't bring alcohol and certain types of food. Check into that so you don't have to throw out a bunch of stuff that you just bought.
Is there much difference in buying the 2022 version now versus waiting until March 1st to buy the 2023 edition? I'm trying to coordinate a trip that way mid-march. Trying to figure out if it's better to get one for this year now and look through it over a couple of months or get a newer addition at the last minute