Guide to the Alaska Highway: Your Complete Driving Guide

by Ron Dalby

Overview

Traveling across the great northern expanses from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, Alaska, the 1,500-mile Alaska Highway remains one of the greatest driving adventures of all time. Inside you will find details on gas prices, where to camp, how to prepare your vehicle for the journey, and insightful driving tips.

Brimming with full-color photography, this updated edition of Guide to the Alaska Highway is the most stunning, the most complete, and most thoroughly researched book on the market today. Arriving in time for the highway's 75th anniversary, this invaluable guide will help travelers tailor a safe, pleasant, and enjoyable drive through some of the most scenic and rugged landscape on Earth. Tips scattered through the guide tell you where to spot wildlife, let you in on a few favorite fishing holes, and highlight important destinations. This guide is perfect for the adventure lover.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634040891
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	12/19/2016
Series:	Nature's Scenic Drives
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ron Dalby grew up on the American road. He was but a year old in 1950 when he made his first trip down the Alaska Highway. Throughout the rest of his formative years, he crisscrossed the United States countless times as his father, a career army officer, moved from assignment to assignment. The urge to travel America’s roads never left him. Annual forays in Ron’s RV have led from his home in Alaska to as far away as Florida and almost everywhere in between. The RV is a perfect match for his itchy foot, and over the years he has owned or used one of every type available. Ron has worked as a writer and editor for nearly three decades, both as a free- lancer and on the staff of various publications. He served as editor of “Alaska Magazine” during the most successful period in its long history and has authored thousands of newspaper and magazine articles and five books. His most successful book, “The Alaska Highway: An Insider’s Guide,” though out of print for nearly a decade, is still available on Amazon.com’s used book list. This early-1990s book has been replaced with this “Guide to the Alaska Highway.” All of his writings are illustrated by photos he has taken himself. As a young adult, Ron served two tours as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and later worked in Alaska as a military test pilot. He has made dramatic rescues of injured climbers on Mount McKinley (officially renamed Denali in 2015) and flown thousands of hours throughout the wilderness of Alaska, both in the military and as a civilian pilot. He has been married for 46 years to the former Jennifer Durland of Milwaukie, Oregon. She shares his love of travel and adventure and has more than once picked up on stories he might otherwise have missed. They have two grown children, Eric and Tiffany, four granddaughters, and a grandson.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 8: CHOOSING A ROUTE
Just getting to the start of the Alaska Highway will be an adventure for most people. There are dozens of possibilities. In the following pages, suggested and alternate routings are presented for people starting from anywhere in the United States or Canada. All lead to a single town in northern British Columbia, Dawson Creek, Milepost 0 of the Alaska Highway.

MIDWEST PRIMARY ROUTE
Probably no greater contrast exists for scenery on any route leading to Dawson Creek than starting in the corn and soybean fields near Chicago and winding up in the north woods in Canada.

Leaving Chicago on I-90, drivers pass through low, rolling terrain, mostly farmers’ fields interspersed with wooded creek bottoms, in northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and on into Minnesota. This is good, easy driving, all on interstate highways. Stay on I-90 to Tomah, Wisconsin, and then change to I-94 for Minneapolis.

As you approach Minneapolis, and later driving through Minnesota, cultivated fields give way more and more to forests, though small rural towns continue to dot the landscape. Travelers wishing to add Voyagers National Park to their itineraries will turn off I-94 in Minneapolis and head north on I-35. Voyagers, a relatively new national park, celebrates the legacy of the Canadian voyageurs who first explored south-central Canada and the north-central states more than 200 years ago. Voyagers National Park is primarily water, a chain of lakes on the US–Canada border in northern Minnesota. Absolutely the best way to experience it is to rent a houseboat from one of the concessionaires near the park and spend several days lazily motoring from one anchorage to another. The fishing’s good, and the scenery wonderful, especially in the fall when the leaves turn.

For those not visiting Voyagers National Park, continue out of Minneapolis on I-94 to Fargo, North Dakota. At Fargo, turn north on I-29. I-29 follows the eastern edge of North Dakota to the US–Canada border. From the border, Manitoba 75 leads north to Winnipeg, the capital and largest city in the province. North of Winnipeg are some of the largest freshwater lakes in North America: Lake Winnipeg, more than 250 miles long; Lake Manitoba, 120 miles long; and Lake Winnipegosis, about 150 miles long.

From Winnipeg, head west on Canada 1 to Regina, Saskatchewan. Much of this route is multilane highway, and it’s a comfortable drive. Saskatchewan is considered one of Canada’s prairie provinces, and as you head westward, more and more wheat fields can be seen filling the horizon in all directions.

At Regina, turn northwest on Saskatchewan 11, another multilane highway leading to Saskatoon. In Saskatoon, those who wish to detour through Banff and Jasper national parks should turn west on Manitoba 7, which becomes Alberta 9 at the Manitoba–Alberta border. Alberta 9 continues to Calgary; from there, follow Canada 1, and then Alberta 93 to Banff and Jasper national parks. Routing through the parks and on into Dawson Creek is described in the Rocky Mountain States–Western Plains section of this chapter.

From Saskatoon, Canada 16 leads on to Edmonton, Alberta. Routing from Edmonton to Dawson Creek has already been described in the Rocky Mountain States–Western Plains primary route earlier in this chapter.

MIDWEST PRIMARY ROUTE
Chicago, Illinois, to Dawson Creek, British Columbia

Time Required: 5 days (without side trips)
Mileage: 2,050 miles (3,400 kilometers)
Overnight Stops: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Alberta; Dawson Creek, British Columbia
Possible Side Trips En Route (and minimum additional time required):
Voyagers National Park, Minnesota (two–three days)
Banff and Jasper National Parks, Alberta (two days)

Routing:
Chicago to Minneapolis:
I-90, Chicago to Tomah, Wisconsin
I-94, Tomah to Minneapolis

Minneapolis to Winnipeg:
I-94, Minneapolis to Fargo, North Dakota
I-29, Fargo to US–Canada border
Manitoba 75, border to Winnipeg

Winnipeg to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan:
Canada 1, Winnipeg to Regina, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan 11, Regina to Saskatoon

Saskatoon to Edmonton: Canada 16

Edmonton to Dawson Creek:
Canada 16, Edmonton to Wabamum
Alberta 43, Wabamum to Grande Prairie
Alberta/BC 2, Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek

Insider’s Tips:

• For 10 days in mid-July, Calgary stages the Calgary Stampede, probably North America’s finest rodeo–western party. It’s well worth a few days to take part in the fun.
• Beaches and boat-launching facilities are available, particularly on Lake Winnipeg about 35 miles north of Winnipeg.

Table of Contents

About the Author     vii
Map     viii-ix
Acknowledgments     x
Preface     xi
A Road to Alaska     1
Why Drive to Alaska?     6
Selecting a Vehicle     13
Preparing Your Vehicle     28
What to Bring     37
Driving Tips     54
Dealing with Fuel Costs     61
Choosing a Route     69
North to Alaska     93
Ten Roadside Favorites     141
Touring Alaska by Vehicle     148
Top 10 RV Destinations     189
Heading Back     197
The Mackenzie Loop     221
The Alaska Marine Highway     227
The Alaska Highway by Air     241
Appendixes
Visitor Information     249
Currency Exchange     258
Border Crossings     259
Pets     261
Firearms and Ammunition     262
Time Zones     263
Public and Private Campgrounds     263
Fishing     264
Hunting     265
Gas Prices-Converting Liters to Gallons     266
Index     267

Editorial Reviews

"The Guide to the Alaska Highway, by Ron Dalby, offers tips on what to pack for the trip, how to find fishing holes and where to camp. Plus, other essential advise for the journey." —The New York Times, July 2012

From the Publisher