First, some quick facts about driving the Alaskan Highway. This is the ultimate travel guide and pocket reference for anyone wishing to experience the adventure and wonder of THE ALASKA HIGHWAY! There are pit toilets and well water but not much else for amenities. Take advantage of every fuel station you come across. Some gas stations may also close during the winter months. Here, youre coming for the beautiful lakeside sites. (Example: During a February 2012 trip, some gas stations were sold-out of fuel which made it 200 miles between fill-ups! on the mainland - well, information is just too sporadic to be able to make an accurate determination. Service hours are short and after 5pm it is pretty much credit card only. If I left any of your questions unanswered, dont hesitate to comment on the blog and let me know! Driving through the Canadian Rockies is almost as incredible as Alaska itself and again, highly recommended if you can fit it into your itinerary. The roads were bad totally covered in snow we had several snowstorms . This is so perfect! Driving from Alaska to California in mid May 2018, will we need chains for our car at any point? I wanted to make sure I got a campsite as close to town as possible since I was planning on spending a few days here. There's a gas station in Adel, OR and than again about 20 miles before you hit Winnemucca, NV which makes the stretch "only" 156 miles: The exact addresses are Fuel Commander Cardlock - Ed Staub & Sons, Highway 140 & Lake Road 314, Adel, OR 97620 Chevron, 3335 NV-290, Winnemucca, NV 89445 Does somebody know a even longer stretch? It did get busier from Dease Lake down to the Yellowhead Highway junction. Could be icy north of Prince George next week. Additionally, its worth noting that gas prices in remote areas can be higher than in urban areas. Your email address will not be published. Good luck with your trip. The longest stretch of "no fuel" is about 100 miles, but most of the Alaska Highway and the Cassiar have fuel every 50 miles or less. Its rainy season now so make sure your wipers are in decent shape and your fluid is topped off. More than 100 years ago, gold was the reason people headed north. The only two places we got a campground along the Alaskan Highway was Strawberry Flats Campground on Muncho Lake and High Country RV Park in Whitehorse both of which I highly recommend. It was heavenly! See all of the above. This is one of the best adventure destinations in the world. Take your time, keep your tank filled when possible and enjoy the ride. In fact, there's only one and it's in a place called Eagle Plains, which is located around the 400-km mark. Frasier Canyon British Columbia In the winter, theres a business open around every 100 miles or so. Range Reserve. I truly hope I helped you plan an amazing Alaska Highway road trip! You . They were out of this world delicious! You may be wondering,Where Can I get gas on the Alaska Highway?, Are there gas stations along the Alaska Highway?, Where Can I get gas on the ALCAN?, How far between gas stations on the Alaska Highway?. Modern construction methods do not allow the permafrost to melt, either by building a gravel berm on top or replacing the vegetation and soil immediately with gravel. Gas stations are few and far between, If youre hungry get food the next time its available. Gasoline is often more expensive on the Alaska Highway due to a number of factors. In some areas, gas stations may be closer together, while in other areas they may be farther apart. A corduroy road was built to restore the route, and corduroy still underlays old sections of highway in the area. Where the Alaska Highway Ends The Alaskan Highway ends at Delta Junction, AK, which is right before Fairbanks. I had to throw this one in for anyone who is like my husband. As we were driving along Muncho Lake we stumbled upon another gem of a campground. Even then, there were many steep grades, a poor surface, switchbacks to gain and descend hills, and few or no guardrails. I made the drive originally in July of 15 and it was beautiful. Tip for border crossing: I almost always time the crossings to be later in the evening just in case the wait is long. It is not mandatory to have studded tires in BC, but here is what it says on the BC.gov.ca website about having proper tires for the winter : It is the responsibility of the operator of a vehicle to understand the conditions on roads they regularly drive and equip their vehicle for those conditions. The length of the Alaska Highway is 2,432 km. We're glad you found us! Also which route is the best for that time of year. Get a copy of the "Milepost" it says where pretty much every fuels stop in the North is located. We chose to drive the Alaskan Highway on the way up and the Cassiar to the Yellowhead to the West Access and Sea to Sky Highway on the way back and I cant say enough how perfect this itinerary was. Just another note there was no lines to follow the road because the road was snow-covered so you never know if you were on the right side of the road and the roads go straight up and down and sharp right and sharp loves like roller coasters it was so much fun driving them . The Cassiar Highway is a much narrower road, especially the section closest to Watson Lake. Thank you! Buy The Milepost. But to be on the safe side, as mentioned above, drive on the upper half of your fuel tank. If you arent the planning type and intend on just driving the Alaska Highway with no detours, you dont need the book. . If you are wondering what is the longest distance between gas stations in the Continental US is, I think I found it last week. I am hoping to make the trip from Denver to Anchorage April or May. Alaska Highway mile 0 is in Dawson Creek, British Colombia and the Alcan Highway officially ends at Delta Junction at the historic milepost 1422. Where the Alaska Highway Starts Dawson Creek, BC is 700 miles north of the US/Canadian border. Detouring from here to the Golden Circle was a really nice change of scenery for us. Ive been all over the internet trying to find exactly thisa post from a family, with and RV, and their actual route and recommendations. I doubt there is. But it ends up being a little exhausting and very expensive when you compare this number to the cost of camping. What is the best radio for the Alaska highway for Communication CB or VHF or UHF or HF? The highway winds through the Yukon for about 885 km (550 miles) and crosses into Alaska at mile 1221 (km 1964). Im fairly certain it is fine. The Cassiar Highway offers outstanding scenery and good wildlife viewing, especially of black bears in the spring. In some remote areas, it can be up to 150 miles or more between gas stations. 11. The longest stretch between exits on an Interstate Highway is located between Wendover and Knolls, with 37.4 miles (60.2 km) between those exits. Length of Time: 5 to 6 hours without stops. 5 Important Tips Finally, Alaska is a state with harsh weather conditions, which makes the maintenance of pipelines and drilling more expensive. There are also a lot of logging and semi trucks driving the highway in some sections and between the construction areas and since its a two lane highway, the big rigs would often spray up dirt and rocks making your vehicle/RV get very muddy and sometimes sending little rocks flying into the windshield. The mountains were still fully covered in snow so we couldnt hike at the pass, but in the town of Valdez we did a short hike to this incredible viewpoint and discovered a free camping area at the base of a glacier. Take a backpacking trip and sleep beneath glaciers. Anyone making a trip down to Seattle in January?? Many people are confused when I tell them we drove the Alcan highway but its the exact same highway as the Alaska Highway, just a different name. We had two flat tires . In Alaska, the distances and signs are posted in miles and miles per hour. Your actual mileage will vary, however, and if you spend enough time on the road you're guaranteed to run into traffic delays or detours. With stops, this can take a full day. If you allow for the worst case of 23l/100km, with a 65l tank and allowing for say 10 litres remaining in the tank, then by my calculations you'll get (65-10)/23 x 100 = 240 km. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". It was a tough trip. Should be good fall colors along the way in the southern part of your trip, the North should still have a few leaves hanging on. Truly there was a time when finding gas stations along the Alaska Highway was something one really had to be ready to take into consideration. This is very sad but it is a singular case and I dont think it is a fair representation of whether the Alcan is safe or not. There is a 240 mile gap on the Dalton. Answer (1 of 11): https://alaskatrekker.com/planning-trip/alaska-highway/ "Alaska Highway services during the summer: During the summer, gas, food, and lodging are . There were four main thrusts in building the route: southeast from Delta Junction, Alaska toward a linkup The states high taxes on gasoline are used to support services such as education, health care and infrastructure, which are expensive in Alaska. Today I will answer for these questions. You definitely want to read our blog Golden Circle of Yukon + Alaska: Guide to Whitehorse, Skagway + Haines to get detailed information about Whitehorse and to help you decide if adding the Golden Circle to your itinerary is worth it. If you are later in the season I highly recommend spending two nights at Summit. We like to boondock as much as possible because not only does it save money, but it allows us to do more adventures during the day and get our driving done later in the evening, which worked really well for us on this trip. There arent many stores along this route nor gas stations, so it would be a good idea to stock up before you drive this in case you want to stall for a few days along the way. Any other tips besides keep extra gas, and winter gear? Where does the Alcan Highway Start and End? This distance is 2395 km (1488 mi). As mentioned in the beginning, however, the Dempster Highwayis a 700-km dirt road with very little services offered along the way. A post shared by Adventure Travel Family (@nomadswithapurpose) on May 16, 2019 at 10:33am PDT, Glacier National Park is one of our all-time favorite national parks for a good reason. For this summer, Ijust want some epic scenery, solitude, and a nice challenging hike. It took seven days, and three of the days, the roads were snow covered and slippery in many areas. TIL that a 106-mile portion of I-70 in Utah has no gasoline or exits. I really had no interest in Fairbanks for this trip and even though I was curious about Dawson City, I felt like I had had enough touristy things when we did the Golden Circle. When it closed at 9 pm, we drove just a bit further to a rest area to sleep for the night. A station at one end sells about 30 gas containers a week to people who run out on the highway and walk to the station. what gas station so are there along the way and possible addresses please help! The Alaska Highway . A post shared by Adventure Travel Family (@nomadswithapurpose) on May 21, 2019 at 6:21pm PDT. From Valdez we drove straight towards Anchorage and if you dont choose to detour to Valdez or Wrangell-St Elias NP, then you can easily do the drive from the Alaskan border to Anchorage or Fairbanks in one day. Overview. Finding and Pricing Gas Almost all of the Alaskan Highway through Canada was great. But we travel on a budget and seeing this many bears for free was worth the cost of gas and long boring sections of open road. The trip between the Canadian border to Fairbanks, Alaska, is a stretch of nearly 1,500 miles, and the trip from Seattle, Washington, to Fairbanks is a whopping 2,313 miles. The main reason Id fly to Alaska next time is purely because the absolute best part of Alaska for us was the Kenai Peninsula. Visit 202 places on the ALCAN with Scan QR and go for easy navigation. One thing I do tell friends when they ask me about if I felt safe driving the Alaskan Highway is that some of the smaller towns felt very poor and run down and as always, you should let your instincts guide you. What am I missing in my planing, + I am open to suggestions & recommendations. I think this is the longest stretch on a major highway in Ontario w/o gas. We hadnt alloted enough days in our schedule and honestly, I wasnt sure I wanted to drive our Class C on this just in case it did break down but I know I missed out on one epic adventure. Keep in mind that some vehicles (especially older cars) have trouble starting in such cold weather. Only saw 15 cars. One of peoples biggest fears when driving the Alaska Highway is running out of gas. That can give you a heads up to what it looks like. In the cities it is usually around $3 American/gallon. My daughter and son and law have made the trip x2 and are very nonchalant about driving that Alcan. I plan on carrying two (2) firearms, a rifle & a shotgun + send a pistol up to AK (as a retd LEO there are now CCDW Issues to resolve in any U.S. location but Canada is not a handgun-friendly nation. How are the road conditions during that time? Check out our blog 15 Things to Do on the Kenai Peninsula: Alaskas Best Destination for help planning that part of your itinerary. If you are wondering what is the longest distance between gas stations in the Continental US is, I think I found it last week. If you do run into trouble, people along the highway tend to help each other out. Id be driving for hours on end lost in my thoughts, half listening to my 8 year old ramble on again about her birthday thats 4 months away and half singing along to the same songs Ive heard a thousand times on Jiraiyas playlist, while passing a sign that says 1000 km to Whitehorse and think to myself NO FRIGGIN WAY, when all of a sudden a huge black dot interrupts the sea of trees that Im immersed in (which btw is what allows me the luxury to half heartedly listen to my beloved children while pondering the meaning of life instead of focusing on the road). John I could sure use some of your wisdom. I would highly recommend trying to go early or late and camp at the campground adjacent to the hot springs. Sure we saw 17 bears within a five hours time span (on May 17th to top it off), but after sharing this with locals I learned that this is not the norm. If you made it this far, CONGRATS because you are going to have an epic trip up the Alaska highway with all the info you just read. Additionally, some of the gas stations along the Alaska Highway may be closed during the winter months or have limited hours of operation. (See my detailed itinerary at the end of this blog.). Additionally, Alaska has a high state tax on gasoline, which adds to the overall cost of gasoline. They only ask about transporting weapons through Canada. Alaksa Marine Hiway MV Malaspina. I believe the longest distance in Baja is about 250km, and that includes a few stops consisting of "a guy with a barrel by the side of the road". This really is a trip of a lifetime and most everyone who does it once wants to go back and do it again. Gas stations are not that rare. However, the book itself can be super overwhelming, making you feel more confused than youd be without it. Dease Lake with the Alaska Highway. From a financial standpoint, it saved me a good chunk of money by paying the gas to drive there and back instead of flying 7 people up and renting an RV. With this trip, I had my entire RV packed to the brim with necessities and non-necessities that made me feel prepared and I liked that sense of independence and security. All depends on the snow and ice in Canada when it comes to a trailer. Better view and gas stations along the way. Leaving Fairbanks Dec19 2017 headed to California , Anyone else? California-based member of a LA Motorcycle Club and a keen traveler. Road Surface: Paved (Mostly) Always take Route 97. Before the Parks Highway was completed in the early 1970s, the Denali Highway was the only . Junction 37 Services. It was a really great drive. Bear Summit - 3,294 ft., the highest point on the Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and Fairbanks. In Yukon and BC I hit 3 bad snow storms. I was ready for jagged mountains, glaciers, and epic hikes so we headed down to Valdez. But, dont quote ME on that! We have a place in NM & with our Tundra pulling a trailer we count on 8 days (although we have made it in less that 5 days without the trailer) going Taos- Raton-Denver-Cheyenne-Billings-Calgary-Grande Prairie-Ft. Nelson-Watson Lake-Whitehorse-Tok- Anchorage. In retrospect, this wasnt the best source of information, not because they were lying, its just, they were probably more time rich than me and more importantlythey didnt have 5 antsy kids riding with them. Driving the Alaskan Highway is LONG and in all honesty, BORING. The Alaskan Highway ends at Delta Junction, AK, which is right before Fairbanks. Since Im moving to the lower 48 I dont want to buy studded tires for a one-time use (I have a 4wd truck & good all-season tires). From Anchorage, take Alaska Route 1 (AK-1, also called Glenn Highway) to Glennallen. ), Connects: Dawson Creek, BC, to Delta Junction, Alaska You can. The larger the city, the better the fitness area tended to be. While there isnt a lot to see and do on the Alaskan Highway, if you detour less than a hundred miles off it in many directions you can find epic adventures.