Anchorage Travel Forum

would love to hear from anyone that has made the drive from alaska, thru canada, to the the lower 48 via the alacan highway........if so would you know how the driving is in august. we are wanting to move to oklahoma, and will be driving all the way. would love any advice, directions, etc.

Ive made the trip a few times, and August is a fine month.

The only problems Ive ever had in the summertime are road construction,
some rough road areas between Haines Junction and the AK border, and close calls with Moose when driving at dusk.

The AlCan has been improved every year and there is hardly even an unpaved stretch anymore. There are some big potholes and frost heaves, but nothing to
worry about if youre not going too fast.


Ive enjoyed the drive every time. I recommend getting a copy of the Milepost, if you dont already have one, and giving yourself as much time as possible to enjoy the drive. It can be done in 5 days, but 8 - 10 is much more reasonable.

Mike

ps I just left a post about hotels in the more remote areas. Feb 22 Alaska forum.

If you are interested in wildlife, particularly seeing grizzlies, black bears, and bald eagles fishing for salmon, you might want to consider taking the Cassiar Hwy. The turnoff south into BC from the Alcan is just before Watson Lake in the Yukon. You would take this route until you reach Meziadin Junction. Here you would turn right and drive 40 miles to Stewart, BC and Hyder Alaska. 3 miles past Hyder is Fish Creek and this is where you'll see the bears and eagles fishing for spawning salmon. August is the absolute best month to see them there. There are also very nice glaciers here. From Hyder, you would need to return to the Cassiar Hwy and continue south to Prince George. From here you can drive to Jasper and down through Banff to Calgary, etc. The Cassiar is actually about 100 miles less driving than taking the Alcan - so the sidetrip to Hyder makes up for that.
I also recomment the Milepost.

just ask someone who has been in the military and stationed in anchorage. the common practice is to drive back to the lower 48 because they get two weeks of vacation or something like that. i've heard it is a beautiful drive and you get to see so much of the nation! i was advised that canada does close, and you might get stuck waiting for it to open in the morning if you don't time it right.

the drive is great we have done it 5 times, have you gone yet