6
Driving the Alaska Highway
ALASKA IS WHERE PEOPLE RELISH SPAM AND LINE UP ON roadkill lists for a chance at the next moose struck down by a car. It’s where Warren G. Harding drove a golden spike to mark the completion of the Alaska Railroad in 1923, and where the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the North American continent struck on Good Friday in 1964—a 9.2 on the Richter scale, which lasted an incredible 5 minutes.
It’s where you can stand in mud up to your knees and have dust blow in your face, where mosquitoes are as big as hummingbirds, and where you won’t be considered a real Alaskan until—to paraphrase the locals in more polite terms—you’ve wrestled a grizzly, urinated in the Yukon, and had an amorous encounter with a bear.
It’s where Arco tapped a $10-billion oil reserve at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 and Exxon spilled 11 million gallons of oil off Valdez in 1989. Russia established an outpost here in the 19th century, where Sarah Palin (or Tina Fey) said she could see Russia from her front porch, and a historical marker at a creek-side bordello describes the area as a place where the salmon and the fishermen both came upstream to spawn.
It’s where wannabe gold miners once headed for the Klondike by any means possible, crammed into any boats that could float and some that couldn’t. Here, salesmen brought their inventory, gamblers their cards and dice, and women their bodies for sale or their scrub boards and sadirons for labor. All of them intended to get rich.
Finally, Alaska is home to the Alaska Highway, the road that helped prevent the Japanese from invading the North American mainland during World War II and aided Alaska in achieving statehood in 1959. More recently, it set off a flourishing bumper-sticker and T-shirt industry with lurid illustrations around the theme “I drove the Alaska Highway.”
Building the Highway
When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it didn’t take long for the U.S. government to look at a map and see that the narrow Bering Strait separating the westernmost spot of North America—in Alaska—from the easternmost spot of Asia—in Siberia—was only 36 miles across. With the Japanese navy lurking close to North American shores (and even invading the Aleutians) and Russia an ally that desperately needed supplies, the United States decided its Corps of Engineers should construct an inland road to Alaska. Because timing was important, trainloads of U.S. soldiers and equipment began arriving in tiny, remote Dawson Creek before any agreement was signed with Canada. All told, 33,000 men would work on the road that year, 11,000 of them U.S. Army troops, and some 200 would die in the sub-zero temperatures and hazardous working conditions.
The surveyors were just steps ahead of the bulldozers in the winter of 1942, sinking into the mud and the permafrost below. Not much attention was paid to grades or curves. As the surveyors pointed to what they perceived as the horizon, the bulldozers followed in their footprints. The original 1,422-mile road was built in just over 8 months.
Alaska Highlights
Canadian construction crews cleaned up and straightened out the roadway for the next several years, but the Japanese threat in Alaskan waters had subsided. By 1949, the road was open to traffic, and paving continued sporadically until the last stretch was more or less covered by macadam in 1992. Drivers today still encounter rough stretches undergoing construction.
You can still count on a Mountie on the Canadian part of the highway!
RVing Along the Alaska Highway
While the mighty Alaska Highway still strikes fear into the hearts of travelers, it’s become tamer over the past years. The main attraction to the RVer is a combination of end-of-the-world roadways peeling off at intervals and all the incredible scenery and wildlife waiting to be discovered along the way. There are craggy peaks capped with perpetual snow, hanging and calving glaciers, golden midnight sunsets, and swirling acid-green northern lights, along with grizzly bears, moose, caribou, bald eagles, and sometimes wolves.
The eastern access route goes from Great Falls to Calgary, across Alberta to Edmonton and northwest to Dawson Creek. The western access route sets out from Seattle, north on I-5 to the Trans-Canada 1, east to Hope and north via either the new Coquihalla Highway or the slower Route 97 to Cache Creek, Quesnel, Prince George, and Dawson Creek.
The first challenge in driving the Alaska Highway is to get to the starting point, the famous Mile 0, located in Dawson Creek, British Columbia (BC), 817 miles north of Seattle on the western access route (or 867 miles northwest of Great Falls, Montana, on the eastern access route).
About 80% of the Alaska Highway is in Canada, which is why some people still call it by its nickname, “the Alcan.” While it sounds appropriate, even hip, to some citizens from the Lower 48, the very word “Alcan” makes Alaskans and Canadians of a certain age bristle. That’s because it was an acronym for the Alaska-Canada Military Highway, which did not permit civilian travel during the war years. Locals equate it to calling San Francisco “Frisco.”
Rocky Crest Lake, near Muncho Lake on the Alaska Highway.
Despite losing their box office billing in the highway’s official name, the Canadians got a good deal. In 1946, after the war that inspired the highway’s construction, they bought their share at half of what it cost to build.
The precise length of the Alaska Highway keeps changing as engineers straighten out its notorious curves. The original, or historic, mileposts are still used as addresses by the businesses and residents along the highway. Contemporary mileposts reflect the present distances, while in Canada, kilometer posts are also in service.
Another point of contention is where the highway actually starts and stops. Historic Mile 0 is in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and the true terminus is in Delta Junction, Alaska, because a road connecting Delta Junction and Fairbanks already existed. Most Alaska Highway travelers, however, consider Fairbanks the real end of the highway, after which they usually head south via Denali National Park and Preserve to Anchorage.
Hitting the Highlights
With only a 2-week vacation, you can still see a lot of Alaska, especially if you fly in (say, to Anchorage) and pick up an RV there (see “Bring Your Own RV or Rent?” below, for rental information). From Anchorage, take Route 3 north to Fairbanks; Route 2 east to Delta Junction, where you pick up the official Alaska Highway; and continue southeast on Route 2, which becomes Hwy. 1 when you cross the Canadian border. Through the Yukon, continue southeast on Hwy. 1 to Whitehorse. From here, you could follow Route 2 north to Dawson City or continue along the Alaska Highway, Route 1, to Watson Lake. If time permits, follow the Alaska Highway, now Route 97 in British Columbia, to Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway. If you want to vary your return route once you’re back in Alaska, take Route 1 (the Glenn Hwy.) southwest from Tok to Anchorage.
Going for the Long Haul
If you want to stretch out your Alaska RV adventure for a full summer, follow as many of the 10 side trips listed at the end of this chapter as you can squeeze in and weather permits. In spring and fall, check ahead on weather conditions since there could be a late thaw and some roads still closed by snowpack in spring. We were snowed in one August day in Dawson City when a storm dumped so much of the white stuff that the roads were closed.
Travel Essentials
When to Go
While the highway is open and maintained year-round, RV visitors will find the best times for visiting are mid-May to late September. The “season,” according to the locals we met on our mid-May trip, had not yet begun, which meant we could find empty campsites late in the day. But a few lodges and service stations had not yet opened for the summer. Try to avoid July and August, when RVs are almost bumper-to-bumper along some stretches of the highway.
Ferries in Alaska carry RVs as well as cars.
Bring Your Own RV or Rent?
To bring your own RV to Alaska without amassing a lot of overland miles or doubling back over the same territory, consider taking it aboard one of the Alaska ferries from Bellingham, Washington, to Skagway, which connects by road with Whitehorse or Watson Lake. Call or check the website for reservations as soon as possible after January 1 of the year you want to travel—and be patient, the line is often busy (
800/382-9229; www.akms.com/ferry).
Alternatively, you can rent, starting out from Seattle, Skagway, or Anchorage. To rent an RV in British Columbia or Alaska, reserve as early as possible and determine whether you can pick up at one point and drop off at another. In Alaska, Anchorage is the center of RV rentals, with a number of companies such as these:
• ABC Motorhome Rentals: 800/421-7456; www.abcmotorhome.com.
• Alaska Motorhome Rentals: 800/323-5757; www.alaskarv.com. Provides one-way rentals between Skagway and Seattle.
• Clippership Motorhome Rentals: 800/421-3456; www.clippershiprv.com.
• Cruise America: 800/671-8042; www.cruiseamerica.com.
• Great Alaskan Holidays, Inc.: 888/225-2752; www.greatalaskanholidays.com.
• Murphy’s RV: 888/562-0661; www.alaskaone.com/murphyrv.
Rental prices can vary sharply, so shop around. Look for a rental with unlimited mileage included. In Alaska, the miles pile up quickly and expensively at 15¢ a mile. Daily rates will be around $250 a day. If you do the Anchorage-to-Seattle run, there will be a drop-off fee of about $500. Also, there may be a preparation fee and utensils and linens fee, each about $40.
A Seattle-based company called Alaska Highway Cruises ( 800/323-5757; www.alaskahighwaycruises.com), a division of Alaska Travel Adventures, offers a combination package with one of several customized overland itineraries in a type C motor home, paid reserved campsites nightly, and an Alaska cruise aboard a Holland America Line luxury ship. On the 15-day “Northern Highlights” itinerary, you board your ship in Vancouver, then take a 7-night cruise to Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, along with Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord. After disembarking in Seward, you take a motorcoach to Anchorage, where you pick up an RV. Your 7-night motor home tour starts with a drive to Denali National Park for 2 nights, then continues along the Alaska Highway to Glennallen, before returning to Anchorage for your flight home. The whole package starts at around $2,600 per person, double occupancy, and includes the cruise with all meals and entertainment, a fully furnished rental RV, campground reservations, and fees. You buy the gas and food, as well as your round-trip flight between your home city and Vancouver. (Also, check out www.bestofalaskatravel.com.)
Our 21-foot Fleetwood Jamboree rented from Alaska Highway Cruises averaged 6 to 7 miles per gallon on the Alaska Highway. We drove a total of 3,100 miles, spending approximately $600 on gas and about $500 on food and beverages for two. That was several years ago. These days (early 2012), gas is running about $3.67 a gallon in Anchorage, and $4.12 for diesel.
What to Take
Bring your passport (required for any border crossing to and from Canada), binoculars, cameras, batteries, a world-class mosquito repellent, sunscreen, and good maps. Anglers will want to carry fishing gear for lake trout, northern pike, Dolly Varden, arctic grayling, and five species of Pacific salmon. Spin or bait-cast fishing and/or fly-fishing rods and tackle capable of handling fish up to 30 pounds are recommended by the experts. Some RV rental companies will also rent fishing gear.
For the RV, take spare parts such as a fan belt, oil filter, air filter, radiator hose, and heater hose. Mud flaps or “eyelashes” for the back are a good idea to keep gravel and mud from splashing all over the rear window. We took a basic tool kit and an emergency medical kit.
What to Wear
Although we took along heavyweight down parkas and heavy-soled hiking boots, we never donned either one. Walking or jogging shoes were adequate on the short trails we hiked, but dedicated hikers and climbers should carry specialized equipment. A raincoat and umbrella are a good idea, since it can rain or snow, but don’t be surprised to find Fairbanks sunny and hot. Dress is casual everywhere in Alaska, so typical RV outfits will always pass muster (except on a cruise ship, if you take the Alaska Highway Cruises package).
Trimming Costs on the Road
The type of RV you choose to drive can make a big difference in expenses on the road. The best gas mileage and greatest route flexibility come from a four-wheel-drive truck camper with a cab-over sleeping and cooking unit, but you’ll sacrifice some of the comforts provided by a type C or type A motor home. (This quandary inspired a popular bumper sticker: “Sure it gets lousy gas mileage for a car, but it gets great mileage for a house.”)
Staying in government campgrounds without facilities is much cheaper than private campgrounds with hookups. Parking by the side of the road is cheapest of all, if you’re in an area where you feel safe. However, after noting how many RV parks list security as a plus, we don’t recommend it. (See “Should You Sleep by the Side of the Road?” in chapter 3, “Where to Sleep: Campgrounds & RV Parks.”)
Food is expensive in the north, so stock as many provisions as you can in the gateway cities to the south.
Note: At press time, the U.S. and Canadian dollars were trading at about 1 to 1, although that exchange rate may change. Go to www.oanda.com for currency updates.
Where to Get Travel Information
Contact the Alaska Travel Industry Association, 2600 Cordova St., Anchorage, AK 99503. Call for a free booklet, “Alaska State Vacation Planner” ( 907/929-2200; www.travelalaska.com).
Tourism British Columbia, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC, Canada V8V 1X4 ( 800/435-5622; www.hellobc.com), provides a lot of free material about the province, including maps, campground guides, and other specialized information.
Tourism Yukon, P.O. Box 2703-VG, Whitehorse, YT, Canada Y1A 2C6 ( 800/661-0494; www.travelyukon.com), can also provide material, including maps and campground guides.
Finally, don’t set out on the Alaska Highway drive without the road bible called The MILEPOST ($34, including shipping), published annually ( 800/243-0495; www.themilepost.com). It includes mile-by-mile logs of all the North Country highways, as well as updated road conditions, the best places to spot wildlife, and every hiccup of life along the highway.
Remember, U.S. citizens need a passport to get into Canada (and come back!). See http://travel.state.gov/passport for details.
Driving & Camping Tips
• Expect to drive with your headlights on. In this part of Canada, the law requires it, and when dust is billowing, you’ll be glad the oncoming traffic is visible to you through the clouds.
• Don’t try to “make time” on the road; it can make you crazy. We saw too many RVers limping into camp exhausted at 9pm—they’d kept driving because the sun was still high, either not knowing or ignoring the fact that in summer, it almost never sets this far north. If you drive your RV hell-for-leather, ignoring loose gravel, buckled roadways, and potholes, you’ll miss a lot of the scenery and wildlife, two of the most important reasons for being there.
• Always top off your gas tank when you pass an open station. Sometimes a station ahead may be closed for the day or has gone out of business. Our closest call came on the Klondike Highway when we had to drive 269 miles between open stations and finally rolled into Dempster Corner on fumes. Another time, we turned around and drove back 20 miles to buy gas at a station we had passed, because the one to which we were headed was closed.
• Watch for frost heaves. These are the biggest enemies of your vehicle: irregular bumps where the pavement has buckled or sunk because of permafrost melting and refreezing. Spots may be marked with red flags by the roadside, but sometimes the wind takes them away. If the white center or side lines look squiggly, slow down.
• Don’t drink the water. We make it a habit never to assume that any piped campground water is potable, but instead use it only for the kitchen and bathroom. We drink bottled water and use prepackaged ice, which is available almost everywhere along the route in Alaska and northern Canada, where tap water sometimes comes out in shades of brown. If your rig has a water filter and an ice maker with a filter, you’ll do fine. Also, never drink water from a stream or lake. The parasite giardia, which can cause extreme intestinal upset and is impervious to antibiotics, is present in northern Canada and Alaska waterways.
• Come prepared. Stock up your RV with any necessary personal items before you get into the woods. You’ll be able to find basic groceries, towing services, RV repairs, and telephones along the road; but if you want to prepare a bouillabaisse with your freshly caught fish, be sure to take along your own saffron and sauvignon blanc.
The Best Alaska Highway Sights, Tastes & Experiences
Off-the-Wall Attractions
A collection of 3,600 billed caps. They’re stapled to the ceiling at Toad River Lodge, Mile 422, making an intricately textured soundproofing. The lodge also has a full-service campground ( 250/232-5401; www.toadriverlodge.com).
The Sign Post Forest, Watson Lake. Located at Mile 612, the Sign Post Forest started in 1942 when a homesick GI from Illinois who was working on the highway put up a road sign to his hometown. It has since grown to some 42,000 signs from all over the world (www.yukoninfo.com/watson/signpostforest.htm).
The “Teslin taxi.” Photographer George Johnston had a 1928 Chevrolet shipped up to the little Tlingit town of Teslin by barge, despite the fact there were no roads. He built a 3-mile road for summer use, then put chains on the “taxi” and drove it across the frozen lake in winter. See the restored vehicle in the George Johnston Museum, on the left of the highway as you head north. Daily May 15–Sept 1 9am–6pm. Admission $5 adults, $4 seniors/students, $2.50 children, $15 family ( 867/390-2550; www.gjmuseum.yk.net).
Action Jackson’s Bar, Boundary. At the Top of the World Highway on the Alaska side of the Alaska/Canada border, Yukon Hwy. 9, Action Jackson’s was one of Alaska’s first roadhouses, manned by its eponymous owner who kept a six-shooter strapped to each hip. Restless citizens used to drive the 70 miles from Dawson City on a Fri or Sat night for the action. Today, it has no liquor license, but you can get gas, as a rule.
The Bird House Bar, Indian. Located in Indian, 27 miles southeast of Anchorage on the Seward Highway, the Bird House collapsed during the 1964 earthquake and is half buried, with a giant blue bird head facing the highway and everything inside on a slant.
Chetwynd, the chainsaw-carving capital of the world. With its distinctive three bears, heroic loggers, and other rustic road sculptures, this district sits on BC’s Hwy. 97 at the junction with Route 29 (www.gochetwynd.com).
North Pole. This town, at Mile 349 on the Richardson Highway, 13 miles south of Fairbanks, is where letters to Santa Claus are delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. See Mr. and Mrs. Claus at Santa Claus House, 101 St. Nicholas Dr., North Pole, AK 99705 ( 800/588-4078 or 907/488-2200; www.santaclaushouse.com).
The big black-and-white tripod in Nenana. It’s put out on the Nenana River ice in winter, connected to a clock. When the ice breaks up enough in the river to drag the tripod cable and stop the clock, lottery ticket holders who guessed the closest date and time share a prize that can run over $300,000. A hint to would-be winners: The ice usually breaks up sometime between mid-Apr and mid-May. Nenana is an hour’s drive south of Fairbanks on the Parks Highway. Purchase lottery tickets in person only at Nenana Visitor Center, at the intersection of the highway and A St., P.O. Box 272, Nenana, AK 99760 ( 907/832-5446; www.nenanaakiceclassic.com).
Hyder, “the friendliest ghost town in Alaska.” Off the Cassier Highway straddling the Canadian border at Stewart, Hyder is where people traditionally pin a dollar to the wall in the Glacier Inn. That’s in case they pass through again in the future, broke and in need of a drink. The bars here are open 23 hours a day. Contact the Hyder Chamber of Commerce ( 888/366-5999; www.stewart-hyder.com/hyder.html).
Native Art: Finding the Real Thing
If you’d like a piece of authentic Native art as a keepsake from your trip, follow the tips below, and you’ll have a much better chance at coming home with a unique item crafted in Alaska by a real artisan.
Estimates of the amount of counterfeit Alaska Native art sold annually don’t exist, but authorities have put it close to $100 million. That’s money taken from Alaska Bush economies where jobs in the cash economy are virtually nonexistent and prices for essentials such as fuel and housing are astronomical. Buying fake Native art is cultural and financial theft from subsistence hunters and fishermen who can least afford it.
You can avoid being scammed if you pay attention. Ask questions before you buy. Any reputable art dealer will provide you with a biography of the artist who created an expensive work. Ask specifically if that artist actually carved the piece: Some Native artists have sold their names and designs to wholesalers who produce knockoffs. Price is a tip-off. An elaborate mask is more likely to cost $1,000 than $100. Another indicator is the choice of materials; most soapstone carvings are not made in Alaska. Even relatively inexpensive craftwork should bear the name of the person who made it, and the shop owner should be able to tell you how he or she acquired the item.
Another caution for international visitors: Do not buy products made from marine mammals, such as walrus ivory, whale bone, or seal skin. Except for antiques, export of these materials is illegal.
The Alaska State Council on the Arts ( 907/269-6610) authenticates Native arts and crafts with a silver hand label, which assures you it was made by the hands of an Alaska Native with Alaskan materials. But the program isn’t universally used, so the absence of the label doesn’t mean the work definitely isn’t authentic. Other labels aren’t worth much: An item could say alaska made even if only insignificant assembly work happened there. Of course, in Bush Alaska and in some urban shops, you can buy authentic work directly from craftspeople. Buying in Native-owned co-ops is also safe.
Another program covers any item made within the state, both Native and non-Native. The logo of a mother bear and cub (www.madeinalaska.org) indicates that a state contractor has determined that the product was made in Alaska, when possible with Alaskan materials. Non-Natives produce Alaskan crafts of ceramics, wood, or fabric, but not plastic—if it’s plastic, it probably wasn’t made there.
You can learn about and buy authentic work from the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, a nonprofit with online shopping at www.alaskanativearts.org and a brick-and-mortar gallery in Anchorage. Sealaska Heritage Foundation offers a nonprofit website selling work by Southeast Alaska Natives at www.alaskanativeartists.com. 
Eight Great Splurges
1. An evening of gaming at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s. Named for Gertie Lovejoy, who had a diamond wedged between her two front teeth, Gertie’s is located at the corner of Queen Street and 4th Avenue in Dawson City. It gets especially rambunctious at the end of the season when all the locals are trying to win enough money to head south for the winter. (No one under 19 admitted.) Contact the Klondike Visitors Association for information ( 867/993-5575; www.dawsoncity.org).
2. An overnight or two at the Kantishna Roadhouse. The Roadhouse is an appealing, if archly rustic, place at the end of the road inside Denali National Park. From here, you can go on guided hikes deep into the park. A special permit is necessary to drive in, but there’s the park shuttle bus or, if you’re in a hurry, a resort airstrip for a Denali air shuttle. Reserve well in advance ( 800/942-7420; www.kantishnaroadhouse.com).
3. A performance of the Frantic Follies. Performances are in the Westmark Hotel in Whitehorse nightly at 8:30pm. The show is a wild mixture of Gay Nineties, barroom madcaps, and audience participation. Admission is $26. The hotel is at 201 Wood St. in Whitehorse ( 867/393-9700; www.franticfollies.com).
4. A 3-hour excursion aboard the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. It takes you along the famous Trail of ’98 from Skagway to the White Pass Summit and back. There’s also daily afternoon service from Skagway to Whitehorse (via train to Fraser, BC, then motorcoach to Whitehorse) with a morning return. Built in 1899, the narrow-gauge train has one of the steepest railroad grades in North America. Summers only. $112 adults, $56 for children ( 800/343-7373; www.wpyr.com).
5. A dinner of rare white King salmon at Simon & Seafort’s Saloon & Grill. It’s all the rage in Anchorage during its brief season. Start with fresh King crab and follow the salmon with the house’s brandy ice, a concoction of vanilla ice cream, brandy, Kahlúa, and crème de cacao. 420 L St. ( 907/274-3502; www.simonandseaforts.com).
6. Shopping for qiviut. In northern craft shops, look for rare and costly qiviut, the soft underwool of the musk ox, gathered when it’s shed each spring and woven into warm, feather-light gloves, scarves, caps, and sweaters. Alternatively, seek carved soapstone pieces, ceremonial wooden masks, or last season’s trendy ulus (fan-shaped chopping knives with wood handles).
7. Flying over Mount McKinley. On a clear day, you can fly over Mount McKinley and the Susitna Valley, where you might catch a glimpse of moose, bear, foxes, and eagles, then land in Talkeetna, the staging area for climbers who tackle the high peaks of the Alaska Range. For details, call K2 Aviation ( 800/764-2291; www.flyk2.com), or Sheldon Air Service ( 800/478-2321 or 907/733-2321; www.sheldonairservice.com). Rates $190 to $795 per person depending on the tour.
8. Dinner at the Pump House Restaurant. The colorful Pump House, on the banks of the Chena River, 2 miles southwest of Fairbanks on Chena Pump Road, is now a national historic site crammed with gold rush–era artifacts ( 907/479-8452; www.pumphouse.com).
A Crash Course in Speaking Alaskan
The Bush: Any place reached by plane instead of road or Alaska ferry.
Cheechako: A newcomer.
Native: Not just anyone born in Alaska; only those belonging to one of the Native American peoples of Alaska: the Athabascan, Yup’ik, Cup’ik, Inupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Aleut, Alutiiq, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, or Tsimshian peoples.
Outside: Anywhere that isn’t Alaska; generally the lower 48 states.
Permafrost: The permanently frozen subsoil that covers much of the state.
Sourdough: Anyone who’s been in Alaska longer than one season, as in “Sour on Alaska without enough dough to get out.” 
Takeout (or Eat-In) Far North Treats
Alaska Wild Berry chocolates. Get some chocolate and check out the flowing 20-ft. chocolate waterfall at the company’s Anchorage outlet. Filling options include wild rosehip, elderberry, salmonberry, high bush cranberry, and lingonberry. 5225 Juneau St. ( 800/280-2927 or 970/562-8858; www.alaskawildberryproducts.com).
Alaskan Brewing Company. This Juneau-based company has been around only since 1986, but its Alaskan Amber has already been twice voted the most popular brew at the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado. Tours leave every half-hour. May–Sept Tues–Sat 11am–5pm; Oct–Apr Thurs–Sat 11am–5pm. The brewery is at 5429 Shaune Dr., outside Juneau. To get there, turn right from Egan Dr. onto Vanderbilt Hill Rd., which becomes the Glacier Hwy., and then right on Anka St. and right again on Shaune Dr. ( 907/780-5866; www.alaskanbeer.com).
Bonanza Meat Company, Dawson City. At Bonanza Meat, you can design your own sandwich. Mon–Sat 8:30am–7pm. The company is located on 2nd Ave. in Dawson City ( 867/993-6567).
The Braeburn Lodge. Try the Braeburn’s superburgers—one is big enough for two. They also serve what they call “gianormous” cinnamon buns. Big, yes, but not particularly tasty. At Mile 55, Klondike Hwy. (radio phone 2M-3987, Fox Channel; www.karo-ent.com/braeburn).
Dawson Peaks Resort & RV Park, southeast of Teslin. Try the grilled Teslin lake trout and prizewinning rhubarb pie. The resort and RV campground is 7 miles southeast of Teslin on the lake, at Mile 769 ( 866/402-2244 or 867/390-2244; www.dawsonpeaks.ca).
The Double Musky Inn Restaurant, Girdwood. It serves classic New Orleans and Cajun dishes with Alaska seafood. Try the Double Musky cake and savor the layers of pecan meringue, brownielike chocolate, chocolate mousse, and cocoa cream frosting. Tues–Sat 5–10pm. At 3 Crow Creek Rd. in Girdwood, south of Anchorage ( 907/783-2822; www.doublemuskyinn.com).
Goldfields Bakery, Barkerville. Grab some whole wheat or sourdough bread from Goldfields, in the historic gold-rush town of Barkerville, near Quesnel, BC. Call the bakery for information ( 250/994-3241; www.barkerville.ca).
Lung Duck Tong Restaurant, Barkerville. Chinese dim sum in a gold-rush town? Why not? Call for reservations ( 888/994-3332). For information, call the Barkerville Reception Centre ( 250/994-3458).
Sourdough pancakes. You’ll find sourdough pancakes almost anywhere up here, but they’re especially good in Dawson City’s Midnight Sun, at Third and Queen sts. ( 867/993-5495 or 604/291-2652; www.midnightsunhotel.com). In Juneau’s Westmark Baranof Hotel, 127 N. Franklin St. ( 907/463-6208; www.westmarkhotels.com), they’re the size of Frisbees and accompanied by reindeer sausages, and in Tok you can camp next door to a pancake house at the Sourdough Campground (see “Campground Oases: Dawson to Fairbanks,” later in this chapter).
Taku Smokeries Market Place, Juneau. The smoked salmon is packaged to go at Taku Smokeries Market Place in Juneau, but it can also be ordered by mail. 550 S. Franklin Ave. ( 800/582-5122; www.takusmokeries.com).
INSIDER TIP: BEAR NECESSITIES 
One expert says that if you encounter a bear while out on a hike, don’t turn and run because it may give chase. Instead, walk backward to get away, facing the bear and continue to talk in a normal tone (“Nice bear, nice bear”?). Above all, “do not imitate bear sounds or positions, even if they seem funny to you.”
Wildlife-Watching
We were never sated with moose sightings on our May trip, perhaps because spring is calving time. In early fall, however, plenty of them come down into the lower meadows in Denali. Pulling over to cook breakfast at a rest stop on the road between Denali and Anchorage, we saw a moose cow browsing at the edge of the trees and managed to snap a couple of shots before she gave us an aggrieved look and ambled back into the woods.
A close sighting of a porcupine in the wild, waddling up a bank with his silver-tipped quills aquiver, or a bald eagle in the roadway snacking on roadkill, is as exciting as seeing the bigger animals. Unless you’re very quick or patient, or the animal is slow, your memory will be clearer than your photo.
Our first good day of wildlife-spotting was on an early morning transit of the Crooked River Nature Corridor south of McLeod Lake in British Columbia, with a wolf, deer, and great blue herons spotted. We were too late in the season to catch the trumpeter swans that spend the winter here.
Encounter a caribou, like these in Denali National Park.
Hummingbird-size mosquitoes—aka “Alaska’s state bird”—in a campground at Fort Nelson were the next creatures we spotted. Fortunately, they were too large to get through the window screens of the RV.
An early morning roadside sighting of a black bear a few miles north of Fort Nelson did not result in any photographs. He spotted us first, so all we saw was his backside disappearing into the woods.
One of the best places to spot caribou is by the side of the road, oddly enough. They stand around morosely by signs and at road junctions, as if waiting for a bus. They are, incidentally, the only type of deer in which both sexes grow horns. At Stone Mountain Park, there have been great caribou sightings right past a huge sign warning caribou in the roadway. Mountain sheep, too, like the roadsides. The indigenous stone sheep in Stone Mountain Park, colored cream and brown and bigger than Dall or Rocky Mountain sheep, can be glimpsed as they look down from craggy rock cliffs, or photographed as they gather by the roadside to lick salt deposits.
On the Road
Northern British Columbia
Once past Calgary on the eastern access road or Kamloops on the western access road, urbanites need to make an important mental adjustment. There are no more cities until Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, just small towns separated by almost 8 hours of driving past gorgeous, uninhabited scenery. Those places on the map with serious names and major crossroads might not be what you expect by the time you arrive; however, the inhabitants are generally friendly and helpful.
Dawson Creek is where most of the Alaska Highway drivers stop both coming and going to trade war stories, especially at service stations, car washes, RV parks, and the town’s major drinking and dining spot, the venerable Alaska Hotel Café & Dew Drop Inn (www.alaskahotel.com). This is where you photograph your RV in front of the Mile 0 Alaska Highway sign, take a look at one of the three competing pioneer villages, and admire the big red grain elevator that doubles as art gallery and tourist information office.
In Fort Nelson, as we were running out of reading and cocktail materials, we found an office supply store with a treasure-trove of secondhand paperback books for half the cover price, and a liquor store with a sparse and pricey inventory. Less exciting was a highly advertised “European deli” with a meager supply of meats and cheese, but doing a land-office business in microwaved burritos.
Watson Lake, on the Yukon border, has a sign forest (see “Off-the-Wall Attractions,” earlier in this chapter) and a modest supermarket. Campground Services RV Park has 140 sites, full and partial hookups, and a coin-operated car/RV wash for getting rid of the top layer of road dust. Don’t worry about street addresses—the whole town is laid out in a strip along the highway.
The “lodges” grandly promoted by road signs before you get there usually turn out to be basic roadside cafes with a straggle of cabins in back and a gas tank out front, and a cashier/waitress who also sells fishing licenses, pumps the gas, makes beds, and does the home cooking in her spare time.
Campground Oases: Harrison Hot Springs to Teslin
Western Canada Highlights & Campgrounds
Springs RV Resort. Harrison Hot Springs makes a good stopover for anyone interested in the legend of Bigfoot, who apparently hangs around this area a great deal. Perhaps it’s too obvious to look for him at this campground, where the logo is a silhouette of the 12-foot hairy humanoid. Of the 142 RV sites, all have 30- or 50-amp electric. Enjoy the 18-hole minigolf and stay in touch with home through the Internet connection. Sites C$45–C$59. 670 Hot Springs Rd. It’s on Hwy. 9, 2 miles north of the junction with Hwy. 7 ( 800/294-9907 or 604/796-9767; www.springsrv.com).
Harrison Country Club (formerly Sasquatch Springs RV Resort). Sasquatch, the Indian name for Bigfoot, shows up in place names around Harrison Hot Springs, so of course it’s in campground names as well . . . or it was. We think they should have kept it. This seasonal campground is 4 miles north of the junction of highways 7 and 9 on Harrison Hot Springs Road, where 70 full hookups provide 15- and 30-amp electric, plus cable TV. Sites C$30–C$40. 400 Hot Springs Rd. ( 604/796-9228).
Sasquatch Provincial Park. Located 4 miles north of Harrison Hot Springs on Rockwell Dr., this place has 177 campsites, but no hookups. Sites C$10–C$24 ( 604/795-6169; www.discovercamping.ca).
Claybanks RV Park. Claybanks is a pleasant, family-run campground at the edge of the historic little town of Merritt and near enough for an easy stroll into town. Take exit 290 from Hwy. 5 and follow the Sani-Dump signs along Voight Street to the campground, which has 36 full-hookup sites with 15- and 30-amp electric. Open year-round. Sites C$25–C$30. 1300 Voight St. ( 250/378-6441; www.claybanksrv.com).
Kamloops RV Park. Kamloops is a good major stop for stocking up on groceries and supplies, and a convenient place to stay overnight. The Kamloops RV Park has plenty of holiday diversions for the whole family, including two 18-hole golf courses only 5 minutes away. 83 sites have water and 30-amp electric and sewer connections. Sites C$35–C$40. 9225 Dallas Dr., 12 miles east of town on Hwy. 1 ( 250/573-3789; www.kamloopsrvpark.ca).
The world-famous Sign Post Forest has some 20,000 signs from all over the world.
Mile 0 RV Park and Campground. Dawson Creek marks Mile 0, the beginning of the Alaska Highway, with a half-dozen public and private RV parks and two pioneer villages. We like the Good Sam Mile 0 RV Park and Campground, which has 41 tree-shaded sites with water and 20- and 30-amp electrical hookups, 26 full hookups, restrooms, showers, a sanitary dump station, a Laundromat, and e-mail service. It’s an easy stroll away from the Walter Wright Pioneer Village. You’ll need reservations, because it seems as though everyone overnights in Dawson Creek to swap war stories. Sites C$22–C$41. Located at Mile 1.5. Call for reservations ( 250/782-2590).
Northern Lights RV Park Ltd. Located in Dawson Creek, Northern Lights has an almost intimidating list of vehicle preparations before you set out on the Alaska Highway: lube and oil changes, windshield repairs, bug-screen installation, headlight protectors, tow-car protectors, and do-it-yourself RV wash for $5. Why you’d want to wash your RV on the way north is a mystery, but you’ll certainly want to take care of it on the way back. The place also has 70 full hookups with 20- and 30-amp electric. Sites C$35–C$42. On Rte. 97 S., 11⁄2 miles before Mile 0 ( 250/782-9433; www.nlrv.com).
Ross H. Maclean Rotary RV Park. If everything in Dawson Creek is already spoken for, drive another 52 miles to this Good Sam RV Park in Fort St. John. There are 68 gravel sites, with 28 pull-throughs and 10 full hookups. Bring out your rod and reel for the boat ramp and lake fishing. Sites C$19–C$38 ( 250/785-1700; http://rotaryrvparkfsj.com/).
Sikanni River RV Park. Sikanni River RV Park, in the British Columbia community of Sikanni Chief, has 38 sites, 24 of them with 20-amp electric, along with 14 full hookups, restrooms and showers, security, LP gas, and firewood. Sites C$25–C$30. Mile 162, Alaska Hwy. ( 250/772-5400; www.sikannirivercampground.ca).
Triple G Hideaway. The former Westend RV Park has 170 sites with water and 30-amp electric, and 128 full hookups. Sites C$20–C$30. Also in Fort Nelson on the west side of town ( 250/774-2340; www.tripleghideaway.com).
Muncho Lake Provincial Park. The lake’s icy waters are a gorgeous blue and turquoise from a combination of copper in the rocks and glacial runoff. There are 30 sites, 15 in each location (Strawberry Flats Campground and MacDonald Campground), with piped water, firewood, a boat launch, fishing, and hiking. Caribou, moose, and sheep are sometimes seen here, and bears may frequent the area. No hookups, no reservations. Sites C$15. Between miles 437 and 442 on the Alaska Hwy. in British Columbia ( 250/776-7000; www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/muncho_lk).
Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. This is the most popular park along the route, and its 53 sites fill up by noon (no reservations). Besides handsome, tree-shaded spots spaced well apart, campers will find free firewood and hot springs for soaking away travel aches, but no RV hookups. There are playgrounds, heated restrooms, and a wheelchair-accessible toilet. Bears sometimes prowl the area. Sites C$14–C$19. Mile 496 ( 250/776-7000; www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/liard_rv_hs). There are RV hookups at the lodge across from the park.
Downtown RV Park. By the time you get to Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory, you and your RV will both be ready for a good bath. The Downtown RV Park throws in a free RV wash (it supplies the water; you supply the labor) when you stay overnight in one of the 78 full-hookup sites with 30-amp electric. Sites C$32. Mile 635, Alaska Hwy. ( 867/536-2646).
Campground Services, Watson Lake. It has 100 sites with water and 30- and 50-amp electrical hookups, 64 full hookups, showers, a Laundromat, a grocery store, free Wi-Fi, LP gas, a dump station, an RV wash, and an adjacent service station. Sites C$10–C$30. Mile 632.5, Alaska Hwy. ( 867/536-7448).
Dawson Peaks Resort & RV Park. Dawson Peaks Resort is famous along the route for its grilled Teslin lake trout and rhubarb pie. RVers will find 17 sites, with water and 15- and 30-amp electric, south of Teslin at Mile 769. Sites C$16–C$27 ( 866/402-2244; www.dawsonpeaks.ca).
Whitehorse
Whitehorse marks a dividing point in the road. From here, you’ll head north to Dawson City if you want to drive the Klondike Highway, then rejoin the Alaska Highway at Tok, Alaska.
The Yukon
This is a destination for North Americans with a yen to wander, nagged by restlessness and an insatiable desire to see what lies at the end of the road. It is written in the faces of men wearing rumpled plaid shirts and blue jeans as they climb out of dirty, mud-streaked RVs and 4X4s with license plates from Florida, New Brunswick, Texas, California, and Ontario. They have made it to the place where the Yukon and the Klondike rivers meet, to the fabled city of gold and the end of the infamous Trail of ’98.
Coming to Dawson City is like meeting a childhood idol or your favorite movie star 3 or 4 decades after the fact and being surprised to find the old dear is still alive, let alone lively enough to dance a fandango and tell a couple of salty tales.
Far from being some saccharine gold-rush theme park or horsehair-stuffed historical monument, Dawson is alive and kicking. Under the aegis of Parks Canada, where “money is always iffy,” the town is slowly being renovated. Some buildings—like the splendid Palace Grand Theatre, the old post office, the Arctic Brotherhood Hall (now Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Casino), and Madame Tremblay’s store—have been restored. Others, sagging and unpainted, lean wearily against each other, waiting their turn and looking as though they won’t last much longer.
Alaska Campgrounds
Some of the wilder goings-on from earlier years are not in evidence lately. The “Miss Nude Yukon” contest has faded into obscurity, and the Eldorado’s famous Sourtoe Cocktail—a pickled human toe (frostbitten and amputated) tossed into a beer mug of champagne—has moved over to the Downtown Hotel. But the annual Great International Outhouse Race and Bathroom Wall Limerick Contest are still on the Labor Day weekend agenda.
Today Dawson’s biggest gold mine is Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Casino, the first legal gambling casino in the Yukon.
Campground Oases: Dawson to Fairbanks
Gold Rush Campground. This is the best bet in downtown Dawson City, although the main appeal is its location within walking distance of the sights. There are 15- and 30-amp electrical connections, 49 of them full hookups, a sanitary dump station, and narrow parking lot–type sites. Reserve well ahead if you want a spot in midsummer. Sites $20–$40. 5th Ave. and York St. ( 867/993-5247; www.goldrushcampground.com).
The Bonanza Gold Motel and RV Park. Located at the south end of Dawson City, this Good Sam Park has 73 full hookup sites with water and 30- and 50-amp electrical hookups, cable TV, and a Laundromat. Visitors can also try their hand at gold-panning or buy gold nuggets in a jewelry shop. Sites $20–$40. Bonanza Creek Rd. at the Klondike Hwy. junction ( 888/993-6789; www.bonanzagold.com).
Westmark RV Park, Beaver Creek. The Westmark park has 67 sites with 20- and 30-amp electrical hookups and water. It’s adjacent to the Westmark Inn if you want to treat yourself to a meal or two out. There’s a lounge, a Laundromat, cable TV, a gift shop, showers, a wildlife display, and a sanitary dump. Sites $20–$27. Located at Mile 1202 ( 867/862-7501).
Sourdough Campground. The RV park has 43 sites with 20- and 30-amp electrical hookups and water, and 23 full hookups. It’s been voted “Alaska’s Funnest” by Good Sam. There’s a sanitary dump station, a Laundromat, showers, flush toilets, a cafe, a gift shop, a walk-through museum of Alaskan artifacts, and a car wash. The cafe specializes in sourdough pancakes. In season, there’s evening entertainment and a “pancake toss.” Sites $30–$45. Located in Tok, Alaska, 2 miles south on the Anchorage Hwy. ( 907/883-5543).
Moon Lake State Recreation Site. Moon Lake has 15 campsites amid the trees by a beautiful lake. There are toilets, piped water, and a boat launch, but no hookups or reservations. Sites $15. On the Alaska Hwy. at Mile 1332, west of Tok ( 907/883-3686; dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/northern/moonlksrs.htm).
Fairbanks
In 1902, when the Klondike excitement had quieted down a little, a prospector named Felix Pedro discovered gold in the Tanana Valley near present-day Fairbanks, and a new rush was on. The prospectors and gamblers from Dawson hurried west to the new boomtown, rode the crest of the wave, and then crashed in the depression that followed.
Vestiges of those days can still be seen in Pioneer Park (formerly Alaskaland)—located at Airport Way and Peger Road ( 907/459-1087; www.co.fairbanks.ak.us/pioneerpark), and not as commercial as it sounds—where the history of the gold mining days is re-created. Original cabins, a replica Indian village, the Crooked Creek & Whiskey Island railroad with its little steam engine, and the stern-wheeler Nenana, one-time star of the Yukon riverboats, are all on display. There is no admission fee to the park, but some of the museums charge a nominal fee. You can park your RV in their parking lot up to 4 days for $12 per night, but there are no hookups.
Pioneer Park is one of the sights to see in Fairbanks.
From Fairbanks, you can take a paddle-wheeler day cruise along the Chena and Tanana rivers with Alaska Riverboat Discovery. The boat sails at 8:45am and 2pm, and tickets cost $55 adults, $38 children 3 to 12 ( 866/479-6673 or 907/479-6673; http://riverboatdiscovery.com). Take a multiday motorcoach excursion along the Dalton Highway, following the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline farther into Prudhoe Bay than private vehicles can go, through the Northern Alaska Tour Company. It offers a wide variety of 1-day and fly/drive tours. Check the website for availability ( 800/474-1986 or 907/474-8600; www.northernalaska.com).
When in Alaska, do as the tourists do and take in a salmon bake: the Alaska Salmon Bake at Pioneer Park ($31). Follow it up with an after-dinner musical about life in Fairbanks, held at 8:15pm in summer at the Palace Theatre and Saloon ($18). Call for information about the salmon bake and musical ( 800/354-7274; www.akvisit.com/salmonbake.htm).
Campground Oasis: Fairbanks
Rivers Edge RV Park. Rivers Edge has 170 sites with 30-amp electrical hookups, 115 full hookups, a sanitary dump station, a Laundromat, showers, and free shuttle service to attractions such as the stern-wheeler Discovery and the Alaska Salmon Bake. Located on the Chena River, it allows fishing and has a boat ramp. Sites $24–$32. Off the Parks Hwy. in Fairbanks. There is a shuttle to local attractions. Call for reservations ( 800/770-3343 or 907/474-0286; www.riversedge.net).
Denali National Park
Denali means “the high one” in the language of the local Athabascan people, and it’s the official designation for the former Mount McKinley National Park. It’s also the original Native designation for 20,320-foot Mount McKinley itself, renamed in 1917 for an assassinated president who never saw it. (The mountain is still called Denali by most Alaskans, Native and non-Native alike, although repeated attempts to change it back officially have been unsuccessful.) The 4-million-acre Denali Park, slightly bigger than the state of Massachusetts, includes a wilderness area and a national preserve; sport hunting, fishing, and trapping are allowed in the latter by state permit.
Denali State Park (http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/denali1.htm), southeast of the national park area, is bisected by Parks Highway, which is named for George Parks (a territorial governor in the 1920s), not for the two major parks that lie along it.
Denali National Park
With rare exceptions, you cannot drive through Denali, but must park near the visitor center and take one of the shuttle buses run by Denali Park Resorts ( 800/276-7234 reservations or 907/272-7275; www.denaliresorts.com). The bus takes you into the park and allows you to hop on and off at various stops to explore on foot (shuttles come by every half-hour or so). The park entrance fee is $20 per family, $10 per person, and is good for 7 days. Walk-in reservations for the shuttles begin 2 days out. If it’s a busy time, desirable shuttle reservations are snapped up early, and you may have to wait until the next day. On the other hand, you could get lucky, as the flow of visitors rises and falls unpredictably.
The information desk at the Denali National Park Visitor Access Center, Denali Park Road, a half-mile from the park entrance ( 907/683-2294; www.nps.gov/dena), is the easiest place to get Park Service information. Stop here for the park map. For advance shuttle reservations, contact the number above.
DENALI TIP 
If you don’t have a day or two to wait for space on the free park shuttles, advance tickets for the Wildlife Tours into Denali National Park can be obtained by calling Denali Park Resorts (& 800/276-7234; www.denaliparkresorts.com). Tours cost $150 adults, $75 children.
Campground Oases: Denali to Anchorage
Riley Creek Campground. Riley Creek, at Denali, has 147 well-separated and tree-shaded sites not far from the railway station. Sites have flush toilets and piped water in summer, and there’s a sanitary dump station, but no hookups or slide-outs. An overnight or two at Denali will allow time to get a spot on the park service shuttle bus. There’s a 14-day maximum stay. After mid-June, any empty sites are usually filled as soon as the previous tenant pulls out. Sites $22–$28. Follow the signs in the park for directions to campground ( 907/683-2294; reservations: 800/622-7275; www.reservedenali.com).
The Homestead RV Park. In Palmer, Alaska, the Homestead is handily located in the Matanuska Valley near the junction of the Parks Highway between Denali and Anchorage and the Glenn Highway between Tok and Anchorage. With the long hours of summer, you can commute to Anchorage for dinner and get home before dark, as well as walk to a trout fishing stream, go hiking, and take in a square dance on Thurs nights. There’s Wi-Fi, and some 63 sites have water and 20- and 30-amp electrical hookups. Sites $30–$34. Mile 36.2, Glenn Hwy. ( 907/745-6005; www.homesteadrvpark.com).
Anchorage
In the bush country, they like to say, “The nicest thing about Los Anchorage is that it’s only 30 miles from Alaska.”
People who don’t know Alaska usually visualize Anchorage as being an icy outpost in the wilderness populated by moose, grizzly bears, and bush pilots. True, you will find moose and bears—most often in the Anchorage Zoo—and plenty of bush pilots taking off and landing at Lake Hood. But the first time we arrived there, on a July day, it was warmer and sunnier than Los Angeles and bright with summer flowers. On our most recent May visit, however, it was cold and windy and socked in with fog.
Earthquake Park, on the west end of Northern Lights Boulevard, still shows graphically the results of the 9.2 earthquake on Good Friday in 1964, when two huge chunks of earth fissured and dropped 20 feet in an instant. “It looked like chocolate pudding somebody had been dragging their fingers through,” one eyewitness said.
A statue of Captain James Cook looks out on Turnagain Arm, so named when the captain told his first mate William Bligh to turn the ship around when it was discovered the place was not the Northwest Passage he was seeking.
The fine Anchorage Museum of History and Art, in a stylish building with a frieze of Alaskan designs across the top, displays an excellent collection of contemporary Alaskan and Native arts and crafts. Admission is $12 adults, $9 seniors, $7 children. 121 W. Seventh Ave. ( 907/929/9201; www.anchoragemuseum.org).
Chilkoot Charlie’s Rustic Alaskan Bar says it all, and notes in its ad: “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!” It’s open 7 nights a week with live entertainment, burgers, and brews. 2435 Spenard Rd. ( 907/272-1010; www.koots.com).
Campground Oases in Anchorage
Golden Nugget Camper Park. Just outside of town, from the junction of Glenn Hwy. and Bragaw St., go south 3⁄4 mile to 4100 De Barr Rd. There are 215 sites, including 190 full hookups with 30-amp electric, along with picnic tables, Wi-Fi, and TV. Sites $40–$45 ( 800/449-2012 or 907/333-2012; www.goldennuggetcamperpark.com).
Ship Creek Landings Downtown RV Park. Close to Anchorage’s downtown area, Ship Creek Landing faces the railroad tracks and Ship Creek. The 150 full hookups provide city water, 20- and 30-amp electric, and Wi-Fi. You can walk to shopping, fishing areas, the farmers’ market, and also to rail, boat, and bus excursions. Sites $26–$47. 150 N. Ingra St. at E. 1st Ave. Call for reservations ( 888/778-7700 or 907/277-0877).
INSIDER TIP: ALASKAN TRAFFIC JAMS 
Don’t attempt to drive down to the Kenai Peninsula on a summer weekend; it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic heading south from Anchorage on Friday afternoons and heading north back to town on Sunday nights and Monday mornings.
Seven Tough Side Trips & Three Easy Ones
Tough Trips
1. The Top of the World Highway (Yukon Rte. 9). The Top of the World, from Dawson City to Eagle, is 146 miles of unpaved, white-knuckling terror. You’ll talk about it for years, especially if you go early in the season when half the roadway is still covered with ice and snow. There are no guardrails and few markers to indicate whether you’re still on the roadway or have ventured off onto a side road that peters out in the tundra. Eagle, where author John McPhee set much of his classic Coming into the Country (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991), is an optional destination at the end of the rough, narrow road. There’s been a trading post here for gold miners since the 1880s, and today Eagle is populated by some 150 pioneers, curmudgeons, and refugees from urban life.
2. The Taylor Highway. From Eagle to Tetlin Junction are 161 miles of rough road, with the biggest metropolis en route being the town of Chicken, population 37. There’s a saloon, a cafe, a gas station, and two gift shops where you can buy T-shirts with slogans like i got laid in chicken, alaska. The old mining town is off the main road and closed to visitors, except on a daily guided walking tour or gold-panning venture in summer. The original settlers wanted to name it after the ptarmigan, the plump little edible grouse that was a dietary mainstay, but since they couldn’t spell it, they called the town Chicken instead.
3. The Dalton Highway. This road to Prudhoe Bay takes you across the Arctic Circle, the Brooks Range, and the Continental Divide, but you might have to stop a few miles short of Prudhoe Bay itself; the oil companies sometimes limit access. The 414-mile road was constructed to build and service the Alaska pipeline, and there are very few services available along it. Before setting out, call the Alaska Department of Transportation ( 800/437-7021; www.dot.state.ak.us) for a recording that will give you road conditions and an update on how far you’ll be able to drive. In some years, it’s open only to Dietrich Camp, about halfway down the highway.
4. Canada’s 456-mile Dempster Highway. The Dempster Highway crosses the Arctic Circle at Mile 252 after striking north from Dawson City and Klondike Hwy. 2. Its final destination is the Northwest Territories’ Inuit village of Inuvik, with 57 days of midnight sun beginning on May 24 each year. The gravel road, with some slippery clay surface sections, also requires two ferry crossings; the most feasible time to go is between mid-June and the end of August. Black flies and mosquitoes are also a problem, so take plenty of repellent. You may spot wolves, caribou, grizzly bears, moose, eagles, and gyrfalcons. Allow 2 days in each direction to drive this tough tundra route. Government campgrounds are spotted along the road, but few services are available. Stop for gas whenever you see an open station. Experts recommend carrying at least two spare tires.
5. Atlin Road (Yukon/BC 7). From Jake’s Corner, Mile 836, turn south for a 58-mile scenic route to Canada’s Little Switzerland, with its snowcapped mountains and lakes with prime fishing. You have a good chance of spotting moose or grizzly bears. The all-weather gravel road is fairly good, although winding and slippery in wet weather. The Atlin Visitors Association ( 250/651-7522) can provide updated road information for you.
6. The Cassiar Highway (BC 37). The Cassiar drops south from Mile 726 west of Watson Lake down to the Yellowhead Hwy. 16. It’s also possible to use the Cassiar as an alternative to the Alaska Highway between Prince George and Watson Lake. A lot of adventuresome drivers prefer this route, which they liken to driving the Alaska Highway in the ’50s and ’60s. There are some stretches of gravel instead of road, and services are few and far between, but the scenery, from hanging glaciers to snowcapped mountains, is stunning. Watch out for the logging trucks. Call for road conditions ( 800/550-4997; www.drivebc.com).
7. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Chitina, the gateway to this 13-million-acre park, is reachable by the paved, 33-mile Edgerton Highway, running from the Richardson Highway, which is the route between Tok and Valdez. Only small RVs or four-wheel-drive vehicles without trailers should attempt the next 58 miles of unpaved, steep, and sometimes slippery road into McCarthy, but the effort is worth it. The privately owned copper company town of Kennicott, now a ghost town, can be visited by hikers crossing the Kennicott River via a hand-operated cable tram (wear thick gloves). Guided glacier walks, Kennicott tours, backcountry hikes, and horseback riding are available in McCarthy. Ask for road conditions in Chitina at the National Park Service Ranger Station ( 907/823-5234; www.nps.gov/wrst).
Easy Trips
1. Visiting Barkerville, BC. From Quesnel, BC, take Route 26 over to the Cariboo gold rush town of Barkerville, in its heyday the largest city north of San Francisco and west of Chicago. More than 125 original and restored buildings, many of them occupied by costumed docents, are open, including Lung Duck Tong Chinese Restaurant, Eldorado Gold Panning, the Wake-Up-Jake Restaurant, and McPherson’s Watchmakers Shop. A historic stage stop called Cottonwood House is also on the route; the round-trip from Hwy. 97 is 100 miles. The best time to visit is between June 1 and Labor Day. Call the Barkerville Reception Centre ( 888/994-3332 or 250/994-3332; www.barkerville.ca).
2. Klondike Hwy. 2. The Klondike, between Whitehorse and Skagway (99 miles south), via Carcross (short for Caribou Crossing), looks nothing like the precipitous trail, lake, and river route followed by the prospectors of ’98. Most of them were ill-equipped cheechakos who were required by the Northwest Mounted Police to carry a ton of supplies to the gold fields. A few had horses and some had “sled dogs” that were usually poodles or terriers stolen from Seattle backyards. But most had to carry the stuff on their backs, caching it along the trail, then doubling back for more supplies. Skagway, at the end of the road, is the town where sharpies like gambler Soapy Smith and his cronies fleeced the innocent. The two-lane paved asphalt road is fairly wide.
3. Turnagain Arm, Alyeska & Portage Glacier. From Anchorage, drive south along the Arm, keeping an eye out for whales. Stop at Alyeska, Alaska’s top ski resort (the lifts take you sightseeing in summer) and the Portage Glacier with its self-guided nature trail to the ice worms. If time permits, keep going south to the town of Seward or take the Sterling Highway to Homer and the Kenai Peninsula.