Driving to Alaska

[Bearlodge10]

My family and I are planning on making the drive to Alaska (Fairbanks) this summer. We are currently looking at a smaller camper for the trip to get off the beaten path a bit. My question is, what vehicle prep should I make sure to have done before the trip, and if there is anything we should make sure we have for the "in case" situations?
Any tips on making this trip? Must-stops, stay away from, etc...

TIA

 

[gbflyer]

My family and I are planning on making the drive to Alaska (Fairbanks) this summer. We are currently looking at a smaller camper for the trip to get off the beaten path a bit. My question is, what vehicle prep should I make sure to have done before the trip, and if there is anything we should make sure we have for the "in case" situations?
Any tips on making this trip? Must-stops, stay away from, etc...

TIA

Spare tires for truck/camper/both and a good jack. Services are pretty available these days but there is some distance between at times. Plan for a busted windshield repair when you get home too. Seems par for the course. Also look at your cell phone plan, coverage is good but you can really get spanked on the rates if you don't have the right plan. Don't even think about drinking and driving, the Canadians are real hardasses on that. Generally very nice and helpful people along the way.

Oh yes, get a copy of the Milepost. It's good.

 

[SaltySailor]

This may of changed since the last time I went through - but time your driving with gas stations being open. I believe it was Watson Lake, I pulled in with a 1/4 tank just after 10pm and the gas station was closed - did not take cards at the pump. No way I was going to make it to the next town. I slept in my rig all night until the station opened in the morning, pretty annoying to have to alter my whole travel plan as we were in a hurry to get back to the states.

 

[SaltySailor]

Also - some campgrounds will lock you in with a gate at night! We pulled in late to use the pay shower facility and found a locked gate in our path when we tried to leave. I spent a while wandering the campground until I found the drunk-as-a-skunk campground manager and basically had to beg to be let out! Something to think about if planning to arrive late or wanting to leave early in the am.

 

[wildwilderness]

What does "off the beaten path" mean to you? I assume that means leaving the main ALCAN?

Its a long drive- how much time are you allotting to it? plan on spending time in Fairbanks?

There are a number of options- If you are going up the main route through Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks it is very straight forward and at no time any real risks. lots of traffic. Be sure to stop at Liard Hot springs, very nice. If you drive back down to L48 then take the Cassiar route down on the way back. can detour to Hyder AK.

At some point the detours through Glacier, Banff and Jasper national Parks are neat, but can have a lot of tourist. The Kootenay region (Fernie, Cranbrook) is less crowded and off the beaten path if you cross the border that way.


Further north a real detour would be to hit the Dempster Hwy! Very few ever do that drive.

If you want to see NWT take the North Canol road out of Ross River to mile post 222- thats where all the big NWT outfits drive to then chopper in. That is one long dirt road.

A more modest but worth while loop would be to go North at Whitehorse and visit Dawson City, Yukon. Then cross the ferry to the Top of the World Hwy into Alaska, through Chicken and catch the Alcan back near Tok.

So many options you can take

 

[Bearlodge10]

What does "off the beaten path" mean to you? I assume that means leaving the main ALCAN?

Its a long drive- how much time are you allotting to it? plan on spending time in Fairbanks?

There are a number of options- If you are going up the main route through Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks it is very straight forward and at no time any real risks. lots of traffic. Be sure to stop at Liard Hot springs, very nice. If you drive back down to L48 then take the Cassiar route down on the way back. can detour to Hyder AK.

At some point the detours through Glacier, Banff and Jasper national Parks are neat, but can have a lot of tourist. The Kootenay region (Fernie, Cranbrook) is less crowded and off the beaten path if you cross the border that way.


Further north a real detour would be to hit the Dempster Hwy! Very few ever do that drive.

If you want to see NWT take the North Canol road out of Ross River to mile post 222- thats where all the big NWT outfits drive to then chopper in. That is one long dirt road.

A more modest but worth while loop would be to go North at Whitehorse and visit Dawson City, Yukon. Then cross the ferry to the Top of the World Hwy into Alaska, through Chicken and catch the Alcan back near Tok.

So many options you can take

Off the beaten path means that we are willing to explore away from the main roads or take alternate routes to gain more scenery and lose the crowds a bit.

We are planning for three weeks, with one of those being in Alaska, probably near Fairbanks, as we have family there.

We will be driving back and have toyed with the idea of making the return trip a bit faster if we expend most of our days on the front end.

We have been to Chicken before and have talked about going that way, if for nothing else, to say that we have taken that route.


The Milepost site has been good for getting some specific insight.

 

[Str8shtr]

This may of changed since the last time I went through - but time your driving with gas stations being open. I believe it was Watson Lake, I pulled in with a 1/4 tank just after 10pm and the gas station was closed - did not take cards at the pump. No way I was going to make it to the next town. I slept in my rig all night until the station opened in the morning, pretty annoying to have to alter my whole travel plan as we were in a hurry to get back to the states.

This. As you get farther north it's more mom and pop gas stations. Gas cans aren't really necessary unless you plan on traveling late/early.

 

[csrichardson97]

Id make a vote for at least 1 if not 2 spare tires. Once the roads thaw up in destruction bay, the roads get really rough.

 

[Hausser]

I had zero issues last spring driving up towing my toy hauler camper . I put new tires on my truck before leaving the lower 48. I was making a trip down in August and had issues with an enclosed trailer, i had issues with the spring hangers breaking. I also seen a camper with the tongue of the trailer bent strait up to where the battery boxes were touching the camper. Bring extra gas cans filled and use if needed. The Yukon has nice areas. If your a tobacco user make sure you read the rules on what you can bring through, if you use zens pouches max is 3MG. if you bring booze read the rules. The road was trash from Whitehorse to TOK but really bad from Haines Junction to the US boarder, took 3 hours to go 100 miles. If you see sticks on the side of the road sticking up slow down because of frost heaves. I never had a single flat tire on my truck or toy hauler camper, i did have two spares for the camper and one for my truck, no issues with my windshield. I drove up in March and did run into snow outside of Calgary. Watch for animals and highly recommend up grading your lights on the vehicle.