A tip for those planning on visiting Barrow: bring money.
Here’s the current flyer for the Alaska Commercial Value Center (the only supermarket in town).
Pork chops: $6.48/lb
Honeycrisp apples: $3.19/lb
Lettuce: $3.89 each
Pepsi 12-pack: $9.99
Eggs 18-count: $4.99
Doritos 10 oz bag: $6.49
You can’t drive to Barrow, so also save up some money for a plane ticket.
Why would one want to go to Barrow? ‘Because it is there’ isn’t enough. What’s the attraction for Barrow?
Going strictly by what the map shows, it looks as though the farthest north one can drive is to the end of East Dock Road on Prudhoe Bay:
• Map: Google Maps
• Lat/Long: 70°18’53.6"N, 148°19’10.0"W
And as far as the Darién Gap is concerned, people have put their motorcycles on boats to get around it. One is HOW TO CROSS DARIEN GAP WITH A MOTORBIKE FOR UNDER $300.
{BTW it is only 7,500 miles from the Darién Gap to Prudhoe Bay (Map: https://goo.gl/FzxB2x).}
Weird that some products (e.g., the toilet paper and paper towels) are Kirkland brand. That’s Costco’s in-house brand and I’ve never seen it outside Costco.
If you’re going to go to a remote place without road access, I’d pick Barter Island (which has the village of Kaktovik) over Barrow. Barter is where there is a significant polar bear population that comes ashore after whaling season. The Natives there, after butchering the whale, leave the carcass out on a point outside the village. Polar bears come off the sea ice to feast. There a number of tour companies that will take you out to where the bears are, and there are accommodations on the island. We stayed at the Waldo Arms, which was cheap and comfortable. Just don’t expect room service. There are regular commuter flights out of Fairbanks.
Also, at Prudhoe we saw a few younger types who stripped down and jumped into the freezing water. There’s nobody to stop you from doing so and I guess it must have been a polar plunge challenge for them.
On your vehicle: all that gear is most likely overkill. It’s just not all that rugged or dangerous on those roads.
An update on this trip that I still want to do. The trip got delayed because of vehicle problems and a job layoff in 2016.
I pursued a lemon law case against my Jeep, and Jeep bought their 2014 Grand Cherokee (a diesel) back from me. I decided to get another one, so I now own a 2016 Grand Cherokee, diesel. It now has 92,000 miles on it, and I’ve shaken most of the bugs out of it. I think she’ll get me to Prudhoe Bay and back without significant drama.
For work I was consulting for two years and since January 2018 I‘ve been full-time at a small company. That’s had some drama along the way.
This Alaska road trip now looms closer in my crosshairs. Maybe 2-4 years out. I went back a year and a half ago for the 2019 Iditarod sled dog race, and that was a great experience. I say “back” because in 2013 I did a cruise from Vancouver up the Inside Passage to stops at Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. My first trip to Alaska.
For Alaska driving the Denali Road Lottery, held every May for driving Denali the following September, is part of my plan: Denali National Park - Road Lottery, Denali National Park & Preserve - Recreation.gov.
And @Chefguy, I’m so grateful for your inputs. You were a key reason why my 2019 Iditarod trip was so fantastic.
We never tried for the lottery at Denali, but we did take the bus all the way in and stayed at North Face Lodge. If you can go in the fall, then do so. The place is just ablaze with color at that time of year. The lodge offers guided hikes, and there is a lot of wildlife in the park, including Toklat grizzlies. I would suggest that at the very least, you should drive the Old Denali Highway from Paxson (on the Richardson Highway) to Cantwell (on the Parks Highway), about 135 miles. Very scenic and rugged. It’s a very slow road, and you don’t want to push it unless you like changing tires. I recommend spending at least one night along the way. We would always drive from Anchorage and stay at Tangle Lakes (where the pavement ends), then the next night stay at Brushkana. Cantwell is just south of Denali Park.
You could always go to the southernmost point of Alaska accessible by road - Hyder - which is 317 km/200 miles from Smithers BC. (on paved roads). Google Streetview peters out as you enter Stewart (just across the border from Hyder).
Glad to see this thread get bumped again, and I hope you have a great trip when you finally get there, Bullitt!
If I can swing it, we’ll also hit Tuk in the NWT — Tuktoyaktuk. It’d be cool to get pictures of us at the Arctic Circle sign on the Dempster Highway on the way to Tuk, and also at the Arctic Circle sign on the Dalton Highway north of Fairbanks on the way up to Deadhorse.
https://is.gd/nztmDU << here’s a very rough map.
That’s a 10,000 - 12,000 mile road trip. Hopefully I can take 6 weeks off of work. I’ll need it. BTW, that San Francisco address is old.
The one-way mileage from SF CA is…
– 3,225 miles to Tuk
– 3,450 miles to Deadhorse
And from Tuk to Deadhorse, it’s 1,450 miles.
I’ve set up my Grand Cherokee for us to sleep inside on dense foam. It’s very comfortable for a few nights in a row between hotel stays (and showers). I put some pics on imgur:
Jeep Life - Album on Imgur << imgur, Jeep Life, for an idea of how we travel.
@Elendil_s_Heir, thanks. It’ll be a road trip for the ages.
@Mark_Finn, yes, Hyder is on my list. If possible I’d like to cross every road border crossing between Canada and Alaska on this trip.
@Chefguy, good points about Denali, the bus, and the lodge. Excellent point about autumn too. The Old Denali Highway is on my list, yes.
So you’re going to one-up me by going to Tuk, I see. 
We didn’t feel like driving the RV another 85 miles over those roads, to be honest. In a lot of places, you’re driving on bedrock instead of roadbed, and it’s pretty rough. I’d get a fishing license, if you have time. Tangle Lakes and the streams along the old Denali Hwy have grayling and trout. Also, there are blueberries in the fall!
Great pics! Now I wanna ride shotgun with you sometime.
It’s a thought. It is quite far away!
Well, if you’re going to go all the way to Inuvik, you might as well press on. Come to think of it, we may have been running short on time to get back to our jobs, as the drive took longer than we had thought.
With COVID looking to still be a factor well into next year, my wife and I have decided to bump our Alaska road trip into play for next year.
So, first, are these the five (and only) road border crossings from Canada to Alaska? The lat / long coordinates can be pasted into a map if desired.
. - 64.085721, -141.001251: Poker Creek border crossing, Little Gold YT, Top of the World Hwy
. - 62.615332, -141.001424: Beaver Creek border crossing, ALCAN Hwy
. - 59.629686, -135.164134: White Pass border crossing, Klondike Hwy
. - 59.450545, -136.362070: Pleasant Camp border crossing, Haines Hwy
. - 55.912026, -130.016162: Hyder-Stewart border crossing, Glacier Hwy
Ignore the leading minus sign and space before each of the latitudes. All latitudes are positive numbers (of course).
The Top Gear guys “apparently” drove all the way to the North Pole.
Looks about right. Since you like rough roads and outback, I’d recommend the Taylor Highway, which takes you from Tok Junction, AK to Dawson City, YT (or the reverse), crossing the border at the Poker Creek site. The Alaska side is quite possibly the worst road in Alaska, and calling it a “highway” is generous. It’s a dirt road, potholed and washboarded in good weather. When it rains, the shoulders turn to mud. Once you’re across, the Canadians have politely paved the Top of the World Highway, and it’s clear sailing to the Yukon River, where you can get the free ferry across to historic Dawson. There are still active mines in the area, and you can tour one of the old dredges on the Klondike. Whichever side you start from, I recommend topping up your gas tank before starting. It’s only about 200 miles, but there is nothing much between Tok and Dawson, other than the town of Chicken, which may or may not have fuel. You’ll want to stop there anyway, as it’s a real landmark.
Just down the road from Dawson is the cutoff that puts you on the highway to Inuvik. So conceivably, you could drive up the Alcan as far as Whitehorse, then veer north on Highway 2 towards Dawson City, drive up to Inuvik, then go to Dawson on the return leg, cross the river and take the TOTW Highway into Alaska and then head back south on the AlCan. You could stay at Fast Eddy’s in Tok and stop for coffee in the morning at Buckshot Betty’s in Beaver Creek after you cross the border.
Well, I don’t really like rough roads, potholes, or washboards much. No thank you. It’s more that I like to see what this Jeep is capable of. I don’t shy away from rough Jeep trails.
Thanks for the heads up about the not-smooth Taylor Highway. It and the Poker Creek crossing are both on my planned route (after crossing from Cantwell to Paxson on the Denali Highway (another of your recommendations). I’ll allow more time for the Taylor Highway. And I hope it’s a dry road when I’m there, or else it’ll be slower going.
Looks like I’ve got ferry crossings over the Yukon River at Dawson City YT, the Peel River near Fort McPherson, and the MacKenzie River at Tsiigehtchic NT to look forward to.
Thanks too, for the tips about Fast Eddy’s in Tok and coffee at Buckshot Betty’s in Beaver Creek.
If you can stop at Ft. McPherson, visit the Tent and Canvas store where they make some of the toughest camping gear in the world. Also canvas duffels and other stuff. Keep in mind that I was in an RV on the Taylor, so the bumps are magnified in that situation. The scenery makes up for a lot. Along the Alcan, I highly recommend camping at Kluane Lake Campground. A beautiful rift lake with easy access. I may have mentioned it before, but buy yourself a recent copy of The Milepost, which is an invaluable guide to the Alcan and to roads in Alaska.