History books tell us the Alaska Hwy was finished in 1942--not true. The problem with the AK Hwy is that outside the "big" cities it's all tar and chip and that takes a beating in winter with frost heaves and heavy truck traffic. So, yes, the hwy is paved all the way, but any time you're apt to come onto a 20 mi. stretch of gravel, or worse, fresh tar and chip, with a lot of tourists speeding by. Give the 1-800-RVforRent types a wide berth--they don't own what they're driving. I grew up in the country and a younger uncle, who was much more invincible than my father, taught me how to drive on gravel before I was 16. The AK Hwy is better than any gravel road I drove on as a kid. The problem is our memories have been reset. In the south, a detour is a 60 mph lane shift on the Interstate. In the north, there are no detours, you drive through the construction zone. We drove solo up the Dempster Hwy--900 mi round trip of real gravel--so were somewhat better equipped than most tourists. I did what all the websites recommended--mud flaps all around, clear plastic headlight covers, grill guard, extra spare and plug kit, and a full width rear mudflap. You have to be there to appreciate how really isolated it is. Cell phones are useless and US ones generally don't work in Canada anyway, as mine doesn't work in the US. We had no problems, not even a flat tire. The truck came through pretty much unscathed. The grill guard had a big rock dent--it did its job--and the windshield about 5 little bulls' eyes which the insurance replaced. I repainted the trailer tongue and it was fine, but there were some extra dents in the aluminum front despite the big mud flap. We had a 5 yr old truck with almost new tires and brakes and otherwise was in excellent condition. That's what you want. Fussy people, like me, should not drive the AK Hwy with fairly new equipment--it's going to get some dings.
The Dempster Hwy at the Arctic Circle
The Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean) at Tuktoyaktuk on June 8, 2006
Pretty typical AK Hwy. Patches upon patches, but the scenery is worth it.
More typical AK Hwy with frost heaves. Did I mention the scenery is spectacular?
We were there in May and June which is a good time to avoid the heavy tourist season as well as the black flies. We did get the first mosquitoes by the second week of June, and they are huge. Even at that time we needed reservations at Dawson Creek, Liard Hotsprings PP, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Anchorage, Denali (campsite and bus tour) and Fairbanks. We also reserved the halfway motel at Eagle Plains on the Dempster, a B&B in Inuvik and the plane ride to Tuktoyaktuk. Don't let the almost endless daylight deceive you--without reservations you need to stop just as early as the south--there are no plan B's up there.
We were gone 8 weeks, but also visited relatives in AB. However, we had previously been to Banff and Jasper NP and did not use any extra time there, and we didn't go south of Anchorage except on a day trip. I think you need 6 weeks to do it justice and from MI you'll travel about as far as we did. It's 2500 mi to Dawson Creek where the AK Hwy officially starts and another 2500 to Anchorage. Round trip, with some extra visiting in AB we covered almost 12,000 mi.
All in all an absolute peak experience. I'd do it again in a minute, but maybe in late Aug. next time.
Henry
PS. Unlike Norm, you couldn't pay me enough to drive into Denali NP. We stayed at the main cpg. and took an all day bus into the interior--let somebody else who knows the road drive while you enjoy the scenery.
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