Alcan Highway


Lane

Junior Member
We are planning to drive from Montana to Alaska this summer. We will be driving the Alcan Highway. We will be traveling in a 40' Diesel Pusher and towing our car. We have never driven this road and would appreciate any information and suggestions from anyone that has driven it. Is there anything we should look into before driving this route? Our destination is Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. We hope to leave the 2nd week in June and return in August. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
 

LEN

Senior Member
Watch for flags or warning signs on the edge of the road for frost heaves, then SLOW down. Also if the lane line begin to wiggle ahead slow down or you will find out in a hurry why. Keep the fuel tank fuller than normal as fuel get more costly the further north you go, then as you get closer to Alaska let the fuel go as the fuel will be cheaper in Toke. There are all kinds of boondock places along the way and the weather should be good for the camping. Don't be surprised if you stop by yourself and end up with many campers next to you or if you see space just pull in. Remember crossing the board have your passports and the food you can take and booze. If you take a firearm(long guns only) get the paperwork for BOTH directions Canada and the US. Remember sun screen(almost 24 hour sun) and bug spray. Slow down and look at the country it is great. Also you may want to tape bubble wrap to the front of the car for dings and if you have chipped windsreen do it when you get back you could need it anyway.

LEN
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Get a copy of Mile Post. As Len said drive slow and watcth for the red flags along side of the road. Those are the heaves that they have found. Some of the heaves have not been marked. Be careful when pulling off at lookouts. Some you need to angle into to keep from dragging. We saw a MH pull the whole rear cap loose. The drive is awesome and will be no problem if you take your time.
 

dfedora

Member
Last May I drove up from the east coast.It was a great trip don,t be in a rush on a couple of roads after getting into Alaska /Tok my max speed was 20 mph roads were real bad so don't be surprised. Both Len & chelse had great adviced.
My 2 cents is don't expect cell phone coverage for most of the trip except around the city . I invested in Spot 2 w/ roadside assit coverage has EMS and check in with family members letting them know where I was . This stuff is all done by Satellite gps so no cell coverage is needed. Great if your off the grid and need help. Be carefull I fell in love with Alaska and left everything up there for this year also. flying home after 5 months up there was cheaper then driving 6000 miles home.
I don't ussally promote stuff but on a trip like this is needed it could be a life saver. Have a great trip
 

larry koenn

Junior Member
Just got into Chugiak last Thursday. (May 9) Chugiak is about twenty miles north of Anchorage. We crossed at Sumas, Wa. The Alcan is pretty normal this year. Very good road down south, and not too bad up to Lake Kluane. There were quite a few pot holes before Whitehorse but they were filling them as we came along so it should be good real soon. Also some minor frost heaves below Dawson Creek, not normal.
Lots of ruff road from the north end of Lake Kluane to the boarder and then a little ruff road on to Tok. We went south there towards Anchorage so I can't say how it is going to Fairbanks. Thru the bad section you need to slow down to about 40 mph and then slow to around 20 mph thru the bumps. But there is only about a hundred miles of this stuff so it’s not so bad.
Pretty cold on the north end this year in early May. Below freezing every night after Dawson Creek. Should be getting warmer now. We're even staying above freezing in Chugiak this week but highs are only close to 50 F.
I always fill up at 3/4 in southern Canada because their high prices get higher as you go north. I end up topping off in Fort Nelson and then get into Tok right at 1/4 tank. I then only buy about 50 gallons as fuel is at least .30 a gallon less near Anchorage. Diesel was $1.499/liter in Fort Nelson. $4.22/gal in Eagle River, Ak. $1.499 comes out to about 5.678/gal

They have a new question at the crossing: Do you have any high capacity gun magazines.
 

RVBob7645

Junior Member
Lane;83657 said:
We are planning to drive from Montana to Alaska this summer. We will be driving the Alcan Highway. We will be traveling in a 40' Diesel Pusher and towing our car. We have never driven this road and would appreciate any information and suggestions from anyone that has driven it. Is there anything we should look into before driving this route? Our destination is Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. We hope to leave the 2nd week in June and return in August. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Sounds like a awesome trip, hope you have an equally awesome time.
 
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