Denali Hwy: June 12th too early ?
 

I'm interested to hear from Fodorites who have driven the Denali in early June and how was the condition of the gravel road.

I understand that it's open in mid-May, but how often does BLM service the highway ? Will it still be too muddy to drive ?

thanks!

It should be fine in June, but you can only drive to a certain point, and then you must take busses the rest of the way. Most rental car companies will not let you drive the Denali Hwy.

I found a couple of local agencies in Anchorage that permit driving their rental cars onto the Denali Hwy, at your own discretion!

Just trying to decide if the drive across the Denali Hwy is worth the extra effort (extra insurance coverage and renting from local agency instead of airport) for early June, based on past experiences.

tcapp, you might get kisses (busses) on the Denali Highway, but I don't think there are buses there. :)

Denali Hwy. runs from Cantwell to Paxson.

We drove the Denali Highway mid July 2005. We did not see any signs of road maintenance during our travel.

We had sunny and warm weather and the highway conditions were acceptable (lot of dust, but not muddy).

We had an SUV from Budget Rent a car in Canada (with permit to use this highway), but we did not need the four wheel drive for this highway.

For clairfication, in Denali Park it is the Park Road that the buses are required. The Denali Highway runs between Cantwell and Paxson.

Actually there have been times this road was not fully passable until almost July. It is barely maintained and even less so the last few years. I however do feel 4wdrive necessary as the clearance in some areas would bottom out in a regular car, you need it for the height, maybe not the actual 4wdrive.

IF you do go, photograph the car completely before you leave the lot, these cars usually have plenty of dings etc, note everyone of them. Purchase the extra insurance waivers, realize you will have no cell service and no service for yourself, you won't be calling AAA. :) Check your spare tire and make certain all equiptment for changing it is available. The 3 times I have driven it, I passed breakdowns each time.

That's a good idea, taking photos of the rental car at pickup time. And definitely we will purchase all the insurance/waivers offered for $0 deductible.

Guess we will wait until June comes around to decide. Hopefully the weather cooperates and break up comes early.

Please post the condition of the Denali Highway if you do drive it when it opens up this summer.

We drove the denali highway several years ago during September and it was beautiful. It took us a long time due to the roads being so bad in some areas. I didn't realize it at the time but the renal car we had didn't allow you on this road. Make sure you have plenty of gas. I don't remember there being any service stations on this road and you may go a long time before seeing anyone. I've checked into a rental car place called Levi Rental Car in Anchorage that informed me that they do allow you to take their rental cars on the denali highway. I became a little nervous when I realized that there wasn't hardly anyone on this road. Mainly because I wasn't for sure what I would do if the car broke down.
Jamie

We drove the Denali road last August in a Durango. I would rent a SUV or a pickup truck -- places where you want to pull off is rocky and high clearance a plus. We had a flat -- 30 miles from Cantwell -- had to pull out our spare (make sure your rental has a full size spare and not the tiny tire) which was plugged the day before (a victim of the McCarthy road!). Our flat tire was ruined and we bought another tire from Kenny's tires in Cantwell. Called our rental company (Thrifty -- very nice folks who run it) and they ordered a new tire (which we paid for -- our insurance reimbursed us).

consider -- air in a can, full size spare a must, drive in the center of the road - less rutted, go slower -- driving over 35mpg will increase the likelyhood of a flat, and enjoy!

If you like to see a picture of Kenny's -- he only charged us $40 for the spare -- he knows his tires (his warehouse is an old schoolbus).

http://www.camsoft.us/personal2/Alas...pages/d_01.htm

Great photos! Thanks for sharing.

Hi,
This is a question for Miss Maple. I was looking at some of your photos. Could you tell me how you got to the bridge over the spawning salmon and how you got to where the low tide was?

Thanks,
Jamie

Miss_Maple, which Thrifty location did you get the rental vehicle from that permits driving on the Denali Hwy ?

thanks!