Camping Fool II
Calgary Alberta
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Planning a trip to Alaska with another couple. One of the things I want to do is travel the Top of the World Highway from Dawson City to Chicken. The other couple don't want to because last year on their trip thru Oregon they got on to a road that was very narrow and at times there was only 6 inches between edge of the road and the tow dolly wheels. Is the road that narrow? When my friend read in the milepost that tour buses are proceeded by another vehicle he said we're not going on that road.
We will be traveling with a 39 ft motorhome pulling a dolly and 30 ft 5th
* This post was
edited 06/04/08 12:37am by Camping Fool II *
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MudChucker
Winnipeg Manitoba
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http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/09/20/hamann.3/index.html
thats a little read about it...
I was a young child in a slide in camper mounted on a 1974 F350, it was brand new at the time... up on the top bunk looking out the window... I remember being scared to death looking out the side vent windows of the OKanogan Camper and seeing no road, just a drop that seemed to take you to another world...I remember my mother sounding quite panicked when a large truck would come down the road ahead of us...
I'd do it again... just drive as slow as required....take a few breaks along the way...and dont try and set any closest to the edge records 
2006 Springdale 292BHLS
2007 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT 6.0
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Joy
Henderson KY 42420
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There is a length of it, perhaps 5 miles or less that is narrow, gravel, no shoulders at the Chicken end. The stretch from Dawson to border is paved 2 lane. From the border (in US) it is graded gravel but not exceptionally narrow until that stretch. You must drive that stretch slowly - you can meet & pass vehicles coming the other way but it can be tight and you cannot move right - no shoulder! Don tends to move to the right when meeting vehicles and I had to warn him a couple of times - it is pretty straight down and I didn't fancy having the brand new coach roll, not to speak of the rest of the possible consequences!! BTY do you know how the town came to be called Chicken? It seems the miners wanted to name it after the native bird they had so many of but none of them could spell Ptarmigan!!
See ya' down the road!
Don-SCPO USN Ret.Corpsman
Joy-Ret.Off.Mgr.
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LIFE ISN'T ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE THE STORM BUT HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN.
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explorenorth
Whitehorse, Yukon
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Camping Fool II wrote:When my friend read in the milepost that tour buses are proceeded by another vehicle he said we're not going on that road.
Tour bus companies that hire professional drivers (rather than kids on a summer job) don't use pilot cars! But with 69+ feet of RV, it will be a white-knuckle drive for a few miles south of Walker Fork where it's very narrow and winding, with no guard rails (unless the driver has a load of experience with that rig).
Murray
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The Texan
Summer: A Cool Climate Winter: A Warm Climate
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We did it with our MH and toad. I saw no area that I would call exceptionally narrow or anywhere that 2 vehicles couldn't pass in opposite directions. I would do it again, anytime. Just remember, in Alaska to slow down to a reasonable speed for any road/traffic condition that you feel uncomfortable with. Speed is the killer on those roads that are under repair during their short summer.
Bob & Betsy - USN Ret'd '78 & FL LEO Ret'd '03 
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2nomads
Newberg, Oregon
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If anyone reading this is going over Top of the World Highway in the very near future, perhaps they could snap a couple of photos of the "worst" areas and post them for us to see for ourselves. We will be up that way late in July.
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Hayes
Grand Prairie, TX
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I am like The Texan, we made the drive last year with the rig in my signature, and I saw no place that was narrow enough for me to be concerned. I only pulled over once at a pullout to let a tour bus pass as he seemed to be in a bigger hurry than we were. I say go for it, take your time and enjoy the scenery. 98% of the TOTW is wide enough for anything and the 2%, just use common sense.
Hayes
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cewillis
Tucson, az, usa
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I didn't think the road was particularly narrow -- but I was driving a pretty small vehicle.
This was within a few miles of Chicken.
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JackD
Montreal, Qc,Canada (when not on the road)
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Here's a portion of 2% explained above:
Wide enough for 2 motorhomes, but proceed with caution
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robatthelake
Vancouver Island
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And of course consider that there isn't a lot of traffic and what's there isn't rushing to get anywhere!
To miss the opportunity would be a travesty!
Rob & Jean 90 Southwind John Deere/Oshkosh/Freightliner Class A Ford 460/ Toad 92 Tracker 2 wd 5sp Convert Still running Great!
" Everything in it"Still" Works"
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