We're starting to plan a trip from Central Florida to Alaska next year and are wondering if there is a "preferred route" that is more popular than another. The reason that I ask is that MS Streets and Trips has the route enter Saskatchewan from western North Dakota, but a website on traveling to Alaska makes the route go through Ontario, then west.
I know there are several folks from Florida who make the trip from time to time and wonder how they go.
Thanks.
Paul
Paul & Helen
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There really is no BAD route to get to the Alaskan Highway but just a heads up. fuel prices in Canada are about a buck a gallon more expensive than in the states even when you factor in the exchange rate. It would be MY choice to wait until you're further West to cross the border and begin paying higher fuel prices. We crossed north of Kalispell Montana when we went last summer. It's pretty much a straight shot north to Dawson Creek and the beginning of the Alaska Highway from there. If you're planning on taking the Cassiar highway instead, you could go even further west before crossing if you like. Good luck and enjoy the trip / Skip
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Paul,
It is NOT the route!! It is where YOU want to go and the things you want to see!! We just did our 2009 Alaska adventure and from NOLA (New Orleans, LA) and it was up to Branson for a few days (GREAT shows - be sure to see NOAH - the Musical), and then to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. From there we went to Calgary for the Stampede Rodeo (best you will see) and then to Banff and Lake Louise. After that, it was Dawson Creek (to start at Mile ZERO on the AlCan - we have the pictures) and then up thru Canada (watch out for the Mooses in the road) to Fairbanks (enjoy the Hot Springs), Denali Natl Park (the Mountain was FANTASTIC) and then to Anchorage, Seward (see the Marine Research Center there), Haines (Bald Eagles there like seagulls elsewhere) and Hyder (yes, the bears do eat the Salmon). After that, back down to the 'lower 48' and home. Do the research on the Internet, decide what you want to see and do (the aerial tour over Anchorage is FANTASTIC) and then make your plans. Be SURE to get the Alaska Planning Guide with Maps (MILEPOST) and ENJOY!!
I found it quite enjoyable to visit Glacier NP, cross into Canada in the Park (Waterton Lakes on the Canadian side) and then proceed to Dawson Creek. One year Canadian Park pass including historic site extension was worth the price for a couple (family technically). Lots of parks and historic sites in Alberta, B.C. and Yukon.
Rick
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Well that depends of course. The tourist mile zero in the middle of the town intersection is certainly for the Alaska Hwy:
I deliberately sought out the original milepost which is a few feet from the arch at the visitor's center. Got a potential Xmas card pic taken there. The arch is also for mile zero of the Alaska Hwy:
Sooooooo, which one is right?
Right near the arch is the original milepost, whose age would make it the mile zero of the AlCan Hwy, don'tcha think?
We usually cross at Sweetwater. Next year, won't have to woory too much about fuel prices as I have an aux 114 gallon tank to go with my 34 gallon tank. The Weight Police ignore this as it's always getting lighter.
While there is not a preferred route for us, we tend to wander on the way up more than on the way back south to Florida. I am not too sure I agree with the comments about the much higher fuel prices in Canada. This past summer, diesel in Canada was considerably cheaper than unleaded in Canada, up to $.20cad a liter cheaper in places. The highest prices we paid for fuel was in Alaska, just the opposite of what it was since the oil pipeline was finished. Over the years of traveling to Alaska, we have found the camping to be cheaper, for the most part, in Canada. Especially, in the smaller towns/communities where one or more of the local civic organizations run a CG. Some of them are just about free or at least very cheap.
In our 12 round trips by RV to/from Alaska, we have gone up the east coast into Canada and across, over to the west coast and north into Canada and about a straight line between here and Dawson Creek.
We tend to swing through Oklahoma to see family, then on to Colorado to visit friends, then north to visit more family in Montana, so we often times end up crossing at either Roosville or Coutts/Sweetgrass on the Montana-Canada border. Both are nice well organized crossings going either north or south.
We try to pick out places to see on the way up or back that we haven't been to or at least not for a few years.
This summer we swung farther west to make a couple of days in Yellowstone NP, even though we have been there many times, it had been 5 or 6 years since the last visit.
I certainly wouldn't let any difference in fuel prices dictate the route I chose to go north or south. While I love being in Alaska, my adopted home state, having lived there longer than anywhere else, I also find it pleasures me greatly being in Canada, in general. I much prefer spending my time in western Canada in the mountains, than in the prairies of the middle provinces, the trip up and back is just as good as getting to Alaska.
We normally figure on 10 driving days to get to Fairbanks, throw in a few mess off days and it works out to about 2 weeks each direction. So much depends on how much and where a person has traveled in the past. If this is a persons first major trip, then they are going to want to see more "stuff" along the way." If a person has been RVing for the last 20 or 30 years and has visited most of the US, then they may want to make a quick trip till they get to Canada and then slow down and see more sites. We keep a list of places we want to spend more time on our trips to Alaska, every 2 or 3 years recently, and in the "off" years we visit the places of interest we spot on our trips to Alaska.
Our planned 2011 "Alaska" trip, make not make it all the way to Alaska, as we have a summer full of places in northern Canada, where we want to spend time. May make a quick visit to Fairbanks to see friends but will wait and see.
Our trip mileages vary by summer, depending on where/how we go.
2004 R/T to Alaska 13,871 miles
2006 R/T to Alaska 16,369 miles (by way of Boston/Vermont/New Hampshire)
2009 R/T to Alaska 13,097 miles
joe b.
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I don't know why they would send you to Ontario to drive to AK. Were they sending you up I-75 to the Trans Canada Hwy @ Sault Ste. Marie?
I would think you'd want to work your way towards ND or MT then enter Sask' or Alberta respectively.
When I drove out to Alberta in '95 I took US 2 to Shelby MT & drove up I-15 & entered @ Coutts.
In '05 we flew into Edmonton & drove up the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse. The only construction between Dawson Creek & Whitehorse was near the Liard River crossing.
Towards the border there was construction near Kluane Lake & Haines Jct. The rest of the highway was in great shape. After arriving in Whitehorse, we did a loop north to Dawson City & the Top of the World Hwy, returning east from Tok.
More recent travellers probably can update that. I've elsewhere on the forum that the Cassiar Hwy. is completely paved other than a stretch in the Stikine River valley.
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