Drive Seattle to Anchorage
 

Hello from Sunny Orlando Florida.

I am retired military and always wanted to drive from Florida to Anchorage.


Last year my wife and I flew to Anchorage and we rented a RV for 2 weeks. Did the Denali Hwy and numerous other areas……..spectacular to say the least.

Being an avid photographer I am looking for the scenic route, best time to travel.. from someone who may have taken in the past from Seattle to Anchorage. .

I will be driving in 2003 4x4 Explorer. Once I get to Anchorage I plan on selling it and flying home.

Thank you in advance

al

You have two choices, basically.

One is to drive the Alaska Highway, either the original route, or using the Cassiar Highway through BC; the other is to use ferries through the Inside Passage as far as Haines, then drive the rest of the way.

(There are third and fourth choices, one using the ferry all the way to Seward, connecting in Juneau, or just shipping the vehicle from Seattle/Tacoma using the Totem Ocean Lines boats, but you want to drive, so those really don't count.)

The highway alternatives are probably best in early - mid summer - enough time for post-winter repairs (frost heaves etc.) to be finished, although winter is a good time for the roads if you don't mind driving in very low temperatures on compact snow.

Get a copy of <i>The Milepost</i> (use Amazon if not available at your book store) which covers all the route alternatives, scenic stops, detours etc. It's published annually, but a recent copy is good enough. It covers all the potential access routes.

Note that Seattle is actually a lot farther west than the Alaska Highway's origin in BC - you'd have to double back quite a ways to connect. Not hard, mind, just far from a straight line.

One route we've taken that might be interesting, is to drive up Vancouver Island then take the BC ferry to Prince Rupert, from which you can drive east on the Yellowhead Hwy to connect to the Cassiar, then north to the junction of the Cassiar and Alaska Hwys at Watson Lake YT. You get some excellent coastal scenery plus the Yukon portion of the Alaska Hwy.

Gardyloo

many thanks for the info.

I will trace the Seattle route you suggested.

How about the first week in June?

thanks again

al

We drove from Florida too. We traveled via Maine -- but that's a whole 'nother story. Frankly the part of the drive we liked the best was between Edmondton to Whitehorse. We drove on up to Dawson City and across the &quot;Top of the World Highway&quot; which frankly we felt wasn't worth the hype. If we had it to do over again we would have taken the much shorter route to Tok and Anchorage from Whitehorse. Is there a reason you need to go to Seattle?

NeoPatrick

Seattle is an option since my sister lives there. My objecive is the most scenic route from the US to Anchorage........thanks al

OK. By the way, another option is taking the Alaska Marine Highway (the Ferry System) from Bellingham (or Prince Rupert). Have you done the inner passage? You can do that in stages, getting off for a day or two in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, or others, then take another ferry a day or two later -- it takes some planning and reservations though. As a photographer -- that could really be ideal if you haven't done it.

The Alaska Hwy would be well out of your way, presuming that you still want to go through Seattle. The Cassier Hwy connecting to the Alaska Hwy is the direct route from Seattle to Alaska and it has all the &quot;scenic&quot; anyone could ask for.

If it were me, I would make the trip a little later than the first week in June. You mentioned you wanted photographs and Hyder, AK, just a short detour off the Cassier is one of the best places on the road system to photograph bears. However, they don't start showing up until mid-July when the salmon runs reach that area.

Take a look at http://www.worldisround.com/articles/309702/index.html for some examples.

Have a great trip.

And if you are going to take the Cassiar Highway, then you could really maximize the variety of scenery by taking the last route Gardyloo suggested---driving up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy, and taking a BC ferry from there to Prince Rupert to link up with the start of the Cassiar.

But. . . if you don't need to go via Seattle, the route up through the Canadian parks (Banff and Jasper) to meet the Alaska Highway is also full of spectacular scenery.

For me, Dawson City (and the Yukon River) was one of the highlights of the trip. If I go again, I would want to spend more time in that region. And as close to the solstice as possible.

I drove up the AlCan from Edmonton and then came back via the Cassiar. Both are excellent and have their own unique features. The Port Hardy - Prince Rupert ferry saved a lot of BC driving which I had already covered on the way up.

By the way, if you are selling your vehicle in Anchorage, you should come back to the States via the Marine Highway or on a cruise ship from Seward. So much to see up there but the Inside Passage is unbelievable.