jedivader

Has anyone ever taken a road trip from seattle to Ketchikan or Juneau?

1JAR

My brother did. There is a book called Milepost which is very helpful re: hotels, gas stations etc.

happytrailstoyou

Ditto. When my sister and her husband made the trip a few years ago, I gave them a copy of the milepost book. They found the book useful, and they enjoyed the trip: http://milepost.com/

HTTY

dwooddon

Is this post a joke? There are no roads to either Kethikan or Juneau - the only access is by air or water.

happytrailstoyou

I don't think it's a joke. "jedivader" has been on this forum since 2003 and will learn where the highway ends when he/she reads Milepost or you tell us, if you would be so kind.

HTTY

happytrailstoyou

I did some research. The Alaska Highway ends at Delta Junction. From there one can drive to Anchorage and other destinations. Ketchikan and Juneau are not on the route.

dfrostnh

We did the road trip but we put the car on the Alaska Ferry in Bellingham WA. We could have gotten off in Juneau but our target was Skagway. From there we drove to Knik and then Anchorage etc.

jedivader

No joke. Why would I post a joke forum question???

My wife and I came up with the idea of possibly doing this trip and the only thing I have done som far was plug in Seattle to vancouver and then vancouver to either Ketchikan, Juneau, or Anchorage. Google maps showed you can drive to Anchorage but would have to drive and then take a ferry to either other cities. Besides this, have not looked further into it.

Thought I would just post to see if people have done such a trip and how they did it/liked it.

Thanks, Happytrailstoyou!

Gardyloo

Done it, several variations.

Just my opinion, but the main Alcan route is generally rather boring except for a few areas in the Yukon where it's pretty scenic.

Obviously driving from Seattle to Ketchikan or Juneau can be a very short trip - 80 miles on the freeway to Bellingham then a couple of nights on the boat and bingo. No road weariness there.

One can make it a bit more interesting by taking the ferry over to Vancouver Island then drive all the way up to the top, catch the BC ferry that runs to Prince Rupert then the Alaska ferry that runs from Prince Rupert up through the panhandle (Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines etc.) If you want to go all the way to Anchorage you can get off in Haines, then drive the "Haines Cutoff" road up to the Yukon border, then take the Alcan the rest of the way. From Haines to Anchorage is around a 2-day drive, pretty scenic. Or, one could drive through BC to Prince Rupert then catch the AK boat there.

If driving from the east coast, there's no need to go as far as Seattle. The Alcan is pretty far east, so one can cut the corner through Alberta from the Midwest and shave quite a few miles off the trip.

dwooddon

You can certainly drive from Seattle to Alaska - just not to Juneau or Ketchikan. As others have stated, with a vehicle, you can only take the ferry there. From the south, you would have to depart out of Bellingham or Prince Rupert. From the north, you could get the ferry at Skagway or Haines but once you got to Juneau or Ketchikan, you would have to continue on the southbond ferries.

To make the drive, and it's a gorgeous one, you could go north from Vancouver to the Yellowhead Hwy at Prince George. From there, go west to the Junction with the Cassier Hwy then turn north. About 1/3 of the way up the Cassier, there is a 37 miles turnoff to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. During mid-July to early September, Hyder is one of the most reliable places on the Alaskan road system to see bears - both blacks and grizzlys.

Continuing north on the Cassier, it deadends on the Alaskan Hwy in The Yukon Territory. You'd then head northwest into Alaska and that would make all of central Alaska that's on the road system available to you.

That trip is wonderful. I've made all of it once and parts of it several times and I recommend it to anyone.

jedivader

My wife and I are torn about seeing Alaska. We initially thought about doing this kind of road/water trip to the lower parts of Alaska (Ketch & Jun), but my wife really wants to be able to see more of the state, especially Denali. for those that have seen what the state has to offer, if you could only go one time in your life and only could do maybe 1-2 weeks, what would you do/choose?

What parts of the state are cooler to see?
What parts/cities give you a good feel of real Alaska?

Gardyloo

I don't personally like the "once in your life" kinds of questions. They make me nervous .

Probably the best alternative is to fly to Anchorage and get a car. With two weeks you can easily go up to Denali Park, spend some time on the Kenai Peninsula, maybe circumnavigate Prince William Sound, and see quite a lot. With only one week you will be much more confined to two of those areas only, due to driving distances.

Or, with two weeks you can fly to Anchorage and spend a couple of days at Denali Park, maybe a day visiting the Kenai Fjords, then take a one-way cruise from Seward or Whittier down to Vancouver. This will let you see SE Alaska as well as something of the southcentral part of the state. You could also do this in reverse - cruise north, fly south.

What you need to realize, though, is that all/both of these alternatives will NOT expose you to very much of the state at all. It's just way too big, and the road system is way too small, to allow even a glimpse of the landscapes, cultures, climates of, say, the arctic, Aleutians, Yukon or Kuskokwim river deltas, Kodiak, Wrangell/St. Elias mountains, etc. etc.

But you'll see plenty, and probably decide that "once in a lifetime" is a negotiable term.

jedivader

Thanks, Gardyloo.

Most of the time, my wife and I only go somewhere once because there are so many places we want to see. We always like to look at a place as if we are getting a chance to go there and might never get to go back.

prplab

We hiked the Chilkoot trail out of Skagway in 1992 by taking the AK State Ferry out of Bellingham, WA. Ever since I've wanted to take my car on that ferry and drive North to explore. The state ferry only takes 3 days (I think) and the scenery is breathtaking. To me with only two weeks that seems by far the best option!
Alaska is the most spectacular place on earth - enjoy!