We just returned from our trip to AK from VA. The trip was 10 weeks total and given some of the Covid restrictions I feel like we saw/did everything we could have done. Our original plan was for 12 weeks.
As stated above the Milepost is THE BIBLE and should be referred to daily. If you look at the map you quickly realize that there aren’t a lot of roads in Alaska so just drive all of them! But seriously, some of the things we did that stick out to me were:
McCarthy/ Kenecott Mine/ Wrangell, St. Elias NP
Kenai Peninsula just try to minimize your travels from Friday through Sunday
Homer Spit !!!
Denali NP
The Denali Hgwy/ Deadhorse
Something that I would skip would be Manley Hot Springs on your return trip from Deadhorse primarily because the lady who owned the Springs died a couple of years ago and the place is completely overgrown and not usable. Plus the road was 60 miles of rough washboards (think the DV road to the Racetrack)
We spent several days on the Homer spit mainly because it was a jumping off point for several excursions that we took including an incredible marine life viewing day cruise in which we saw several species of whales, seals and bird life. We also took a bush plane to Katmai NP landing on the beach and walking into “The Bear Garden” where we walked among no fewer than 40 Coastal Brown Bears! An experience I’m not sure my heart could stand again but would go back in a heartbeat if I had the chance.
Our original plans were to drive to Prince Rupert BC and take the ferry up to Haines but the AMHS was a complete mess this year. First they decided to cancel stopping in Prince Rupert so they switched us to Bellingham which was ok. Then they postponed our trip by a month which was not ok so we cancelled and drove up. The truth of the matter is that BC and Alberta are beautiful and well worth the drive. There are also two different routes, the Alcan and the Cassiar Highways so you’ll still have something to see. One note about traveling through the Yukon the roads are rough! Be sure to take your time if you can and enjoy the scenery and wildlife.
We also stayed in Fairbanks and Anchorage a couple of times to reprovision as the prices and availability were the best.
Another note about driving the “Haul Road” to Prudoe Bay. We were advised that we needed 2 spares and would get our windshield cracked. The truth of the matter is that in almost 15k miles of driving, several thousand of which were on gravel roads we did not get any flats or any windshield cracks. Our tires had less than 5K on them when we left and the Toyo ATIII did amazingly well. When on the haul road the trucks (and there were a lot of them) have the right of way so it is in your best interest to slow down and pull over as much as possible which we did. To our surprise every trucker, except one, did the same thing. Curtesy is alive and well !
Here’s a couple of my favorite pictures. Did I mention the fishing??