Have you driven to Alaska from the southern part of the U.S.A.?If so How long did it take you?

Question

I'm planning a driving trip to Alaska from the Nashville,Tn area.I plan on travling Alaska for about 2 weeks.About how long ,timewise, should I plan to drive to Fairbanks?And is 2 weeks long enough to see Alaska?

Answer 1

I've driven the "Alcan" many times, but from the West Coast. Once in Seattle, I figure I'm 2 to 2.5 days from Anchorage, but 1) I'm fresher for only having only 1000 miles under my belt and 2) I'm a pretty serious road warrior - I did Seattle-Anchorage (2350 miles) once in 48 hours, solo!

I have also road tripped the 48 states many times, 10,000 miles in a month kind of trips, so I'll throw in the lower-48 ideas too.

Nashville - Fairbanks would take me 6 days solo, or 5 days with another full-blown road warrior. For speed, I sleep in the car most nights. For comfort and safety, I get a full night's rest at a hotel every third night.

Alcan tips: late April and especially early May is great. No (or little) snow, no road repairs, no motor homes! Lots of daylight bu you still see some auroras if you drive through the night. I saw the whole sky green for a few hours in April 2003. September is good for similar reasons.

On the main road, there is 24-hour gas if you have a 250-300 mile range. On the side roads, like the Cassier Highway, its 9-5 and you end up sleeping at a gas station, waiting for them to open if you don't top off at every chance.

Buy "The Milepost" . $25 or so. Covers all the northern roads, services, mileage, sights, contact numbers. Size of a phone book. Buy it. Really. Their fold-out map is THE map for north-of-the-border trip planning.

2 weeks in Alaska? Just fine. Drive the Tok-Fairbanks-Anchorage triangle. Gotta see Denali NP. Side trip to Seward (Sealife Center + scenery) and Homer (catch a halibut, gorgeous views) is well worth it. 2 weeks is just a survey trip - AK is over twice the size of Texas, but with only 2000 miles of highway. So 2 weeks is a good amount of time to check out a number of places on the road system and get a feel for what you'd like to return for later.

Laird Hot Springs in BC on the way up is cool. Just off the highway, parking lot, changing room, 105F natural hot spring.

You don't need a tricked-out, Gonzo four-wheel drive truck. The Alcan is paved the whole way now. The side roads are GOOD gravel roads. My fastest trip up was in a Corolla. Small cars are easier to drive 18 hours a day (IMO) and use a lot less gas.

Don't bother with shovels, tow ropes, three extra tires, etc that were needed 40 years ago. If you need help, stop, look like an idiot, make it clear what you need, and somebody will stop to help. Like the 2nd or 3rd person along. I've been on both ends of that many times. We locals will have the tow ropes, jumper cables, shovel, gas cans, tools, etc.

Other road warrior tricks - bring a full-sized bed pillow! This really helps, even if just for naps when you get a little tired.

Stock crackers and cheese and fruit and drinks in the car. Buy a few days' worth at a time. Drive as you eat. You save many hours and dollars and calories by avoiding Denny's.

Truckstops offer showers for $5. You don't have to be a trucker (for a few, you should LOOK like a trucker - get a "John Deere" baseball hat ).

Through the US: State highways give you a flavor of the land but slow you down and are more taxing to drive. Interstates let you more fast, have easy rest areas, and you can drive for 16 hours a day. I like to do a mix of them, depending on my schedule and desires in the moment.

Inspiritual story. Took my son up to Prudhoe Bay (on the Arctic Ocean) last June. Met two guys who'd come up in two weeks from Florida. On MOTORCYCLES for crissakes! 550 miles a day, every day, on a bike is like 1300 miles a day in a sedan.

Oh, and the US-Can passport requirement BY LAND is now 2008 or later. You need proof of citizenship so a birth certificiate and driver's license suffices for now. Jan 2007 is for travel BY AIR. Still, if you have one, might as well bring it.

Answer 2

I have driven the AlCan twice. By myself I drove from South Dakota to Fairbanks in 4 days. It will depend on your driving style, if you have children with you, and how long you are willing to drive each day. If you are planning to drive in the winter, remember a lot of the gas stations close for the winter, so plan accordingly. It is a great drive, but can be very long. Canada does construction all of the time, so watch for that. Also be aware, they are going to start requiring passports to enter and leave the U.S. even for residents.

Answer 3

We drove up from Southern Arkansas. The entire trip took 3 weeks. It took us about a week up spent a week in Alaska and then a week home. We had four drivers and drove all night a couple of times. We actually drove basically non stop from Arkansas to Great Falls, MT. It was a huge ordeal, but then getting across Canada is even more so. The gas stations are few and far between on the Al-can, so you have to time your stops carefully. There were times we had to stop and wait for them to open.

Answer 4

You should use google maps to figure out the shortest way. Click on get directions and enter your start and end addresses. Depending on where you are, it's going to be at least a couple thousand miles. And you probably don't want to try driving thru Canada and into Alaska during the winter months. Good luck. It's going to be a long trip.

Answer 5

I drove from NC to AK in 15 days but then I didn't drive lengthy hours on any day. A lot depends on when you are driving on the ALCAN Highway: weather, time of year, traffic, etc. Keep in mind that most motels, food, gas places are closed Oct-April. Summer is the time for highway repairs/delays and tourist traffic. New law says after Jan 2007 you need a passport to travel to and from AK and Canada. Seeing AK is fabulous no matter how much time you have. At lot depends on if you have tours arranged, how you travel: car, train, boat, etc, how much money you want to spend, what your interests are. Come on up anytime. We love tourists!

Answer 6

It really depends on how much you want to see along the way, and how much time you can take.

I moved to Alaska from Maryland this October (yes, I know I'm crazy). I took 16 days, but never really had any -really- long driving days, and was able to see some stuff along the way. I also took a detour at the start to visit a friend in Albany, and spent a couple nights in two cities. Most days my travel was 250-350 miles although I made it over 400 miles on a few days. You could definitely make it quicker if you tried and had good weather. Having another driver would help too - I drove alone.

I started from a town 20 miles NE of Baltimore and spent nights here:
1: Albany, NY
2: Buffalo, NY
3: Toledo, OH
4: Janesville, WI
5: Minneapolis, MN
6: Minneapolis, MN
7: Winnipeg, MB
8: Regina, SK
9: Edmonton, AB
10: Edmonton, AB
11: Dawson Creek, BC
12: Fort Nelson, BC
13: Watson Lake, YT
14: Whitehorse, YT
15: Tok, AK
16: Soldotna, AK (I made it!)

One slight advantage I had was that by going in October, the price of gas had dropped quite a bit from what it was in the summer. Other than that, driving that late in the year is probably not a good idea. A day or two after I passed both Buffalo, NY and Glenallen, AK, they got about a foot of snow dumped on them. The Alcan highway was undergoing construction at some points, especially in the Yukon. Parts of the highway are great, other parts are a bit scary but none of it is all that bad. The views are fantastic along the way. Watch out for wildlife in certain parts (especially between Fort Nelson and Watson Lake). I saw about 40 buffalo on and around the road in one location. Definitely fill up in each "big" town along the Alcan, but you still may have to fill up in other locations along the way. Gas will not be cheap between the bigger towns.

On my trip I did manage to take in some sights and visit with a few friends. I saw the Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY), Niagara Falls, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland), College Football Hall of Fame (South Bend, IN), Mall of America (Minneapolis), West Edmonton Mall, the Sign Post Forest (Watson Lake, YT), and various other cool things. I also went to two NHL games (Minneapolis and Edmonton). I stayed with friends a few times and stopped at hotels and motels the rest of the time; there are probably other ways to do it cheaper (camping, hostels, etc) but it worked for me. The road trip itself can be whatever you make of it, depending on how much time and money you have available. Definitely get the Milepost - it will help. Also get books and maps from AAA if you are a member. I'd suggest a passport. David's right - technically you don't need it via land until 2008 (actually I think David's right about everything he wrote).

I'm not going to give comments about sightseeing since I've only been in the state for about 5 weeks. I did visit for 3 weeks last year but stayed on the Kenai Peninsula most of the time (which is a fantastic place) and Anchorage briefly.

FYI, I drove it in a Chevy Malibu LS (front wheel drive) with decent high-traction tires, and did ok. The worst driving for me was getting into Fort Nelson, not because of the road but because fog reduced visibility to a car length or two. I was fortunate that I didn't need any help along the way vehicle-wise ... I did end up helping a guy who had blown out a tire (he couldn't get it off his pickup so I loaned him my hammer).

Have a great trip!

Answer 7

It took my friend 7 days from Albuquerque, NM.