I agree with the others that a month isn't enough, but I did it with two grandsons from NC in 2006 in 6 weeks and we spent 13 days in Alaska and the 6 weeks included hitting every national park in the Rockies on the way back. It depends on your travel style. See our blog in signature beginning June, 2006 for our experiences.
I’ll add to the consensus – a month is simply not enough. Even if you drive straight through both ways, you’ll only have a couple weeks in Alaska and you’ll have missed all the sights along the way in the US and Canada. You would not enjoy the trip.
I made the trip in 2005 and took 3 and a half months from PA. I wouldn’t plan on anything less than two months.
June, July and August are the best months to be there but be prepared for any weather situation from the 30s to the 90s, dry to wet.
If you're planning to stay on the main roads, don’t worry too much about spares for your Dodge; just make sure everything is in good condition before you leave. There’s a large Chrysler dealer in Fairbanks and another in Anchorage. If you're planning to get off the beaten path and make the drive to say, Deadhorse at the end of the Dalton Highway, or make the run from Tok to Dawson City, or even McCarthy, you might want to stock up on spares. You'll want full tread on your tires and a good spare in any case.
Fairbanks and Anchorage are the two largest cities in Alaska and have all the conveniences of any similar sized cosmopolitan city in the US. You'll find a Walmart or two, auto parts stores, large grocery stores, etc. I found prices for goods in Alaska to be just about the same as in the lower 48.
The roads are generally in good shape. But even if you decide to stick to the paved roads, be prepared for significant stretches of road construction – frost heaves take their toll every winter. Take your time and you’ll be ok.
Oh yea, almost forgot. For those planning a trip to Alaska in the future, subscribe to Alaska magazine for a year or so before you go. Alaska is a "local" magazine and you'll find it loaded with information on the state and the people. www.alaskamagazine.com
* This post was
edited 03/28/08 09:51am by kb3955 *
From your home in FL to Fairbanks is aprox 5200/5400 miles depending on your route.
If you average 500 miles per day, which is highly unlikely, even for a 25 year old. That will take approx 11 days, one way. That leaves about one week to see AK.
Last numbers I saw on trip cost is about one George per mile. That's an easy $10k trip, not even taking into consideration the fuel escalation cost.
If you only have one month for planning purposes, then strongly suggest taking a flight into Anchorage and renting some type of vehicle. It would be a total waste of time, money, energy and other resources to undertake something as such, for only a week.
My next door neighbor did this same trip from the DFW area last summer in a Class C. He planned two months and was gone three. He indicated that the only reason he didn't stay four months was due to his daughter getting married.
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Hi,
We did the Alaska trip from western NC in 1995 in a home converted Ford van---We called it a B-. The trip took us seven and one half weeks, 12000 miles, and we saw most of the things we were interested in. At that time part of the Alcan highway was not paved, and there was a lot of RV traffic, as well as truck traffic. We went up the Alcan, hit Skagway, Valdez, Anchorage, The Kenai peninsula, Denali park, Fairbanks, then came back down the Cassiar highway from Watson Lake to the trans-canada highway. We left in late May, and the weather was good, with moderate temperatures. Allow yourself plenty of time, and don't rush. Many of the roads have areas of frost heave from the tough winters, and these areas can appear suddenly over a hill or around a curve. We saw quite a number of trailers with broken springs. There was no shortage of campgrounds or service facilities, but don't let your fuel tank get too low. It may be a long way to the next service station.
Our trip to Alaska from Tucson took us nine weeks. We started out going due north and had to stop and see all the great places to visit in the lower 48 on the way. While in Canada we had to stop and see all there great places (A Lot). We headed to Prince Rupert to catch the Ferrie to Skagway. The day before we were to board the ferrie. Our 190 RT decided it was time for a new Trans. 5 day delay in trip.
When we got to Skagway there is more to see and do then we planed but we did it all. In Alaska we drove ever paved main road they had. Came home via the Alcan Highway. There is to much to see and do, so you must take your time and see it all unless you plane on another trip in the future.
Remember that one of the highlights of a drive to Alaska is what you see while getting there. We made the trip in 2006 and took 9 weeks. We made some long driving days while in the US, but once we hit Canada, we slowed down. I figured about 200 miles per day once on the Alcan with extra days in certain towns for rest and sight seeing. For example, we stayed an extra day in Ft. Nelson because rain was forecast for the next day. That portion of the highway after Ft. Nelson is one of the prettiest on the route and I refused to drive that far and miss out due to being in a hurry. This gave us time to stop along the way. No matter how long you take, you could always use more time. Everywhere we stopped I could have spent more time - however with planning I was satisfied with the amount of time we spent. We came back by the Cassier Highway and drove 14,500 miles total.
Because the trip is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Your costs will be almost the same whether you hurry or take your time. By all means, take your time.
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