I have received many great tips from this board for our last two trips out west. Now, we are truly going to take the trip of a lifetime. We want to drive from Virginia to Alaska. I know it is a long way, but we can spend from four to six weeks, so time should not be a problem.

Has anyone ever driven from the east coast? If so, can you please share some insight and/or tips as to how you did it and what you would or would not do again?

Hopefully, if we can use the whole six weeks, we will have time to come back by Utah and visit Bryce and Zion National Parks, although this may be just too ambitious.

I do plan for us to take a cruise--a small ship or the ferry up the inside passage--and want to see as much of the state as possible.

I appreciate any help you can give me.

Lynda

Buy a copy of The Milepost, available on amazon.com if not through a local book store. It's the definitive guide to driving to and around Alaska.

The most direct route is west on I-64 to I-70 to I-25 to I-90 to I-15, through Montana and across into Alberta, through Calgary and Edmonton to Dawson Creek, from which the Alaska Highway heads north.

Returning you can drive from Anchorage or Fairbanks to the Haines Junction, then take the Alaska Ferry either to Bellingham, Washington (north of Seattle) or to Prince Rupert, BC, from which you can drive back south on the Yellowhead Highway or several alternate routes through BC to the Lower 48. Of course you can skip the Alcan altogether and just drive to Seattle and take the ferry from there.

Note that it's getting quite late to book vehicles onto the state ferry this year, and the sinking this week of the BC ferry south of Prince Rupert will put additional capacity pressure on the inside passage ferry fleet for the foreseeable future. You might need to think about driving both ways.

Most people can make the drive from the east coast to Anchorage in 10-12 days without too much pressure, depending on your tolerance for road hours. Remember that it's daylight until very late (really doesn't get too dark in June-July) so if you press it you can make it quicker. It's way less strenuous than it used to be; lots of college people do the trip regularly.

Re I-64 being the "most direct route"...that would depend somewhat on what part of Virginia you are leaving from.

Our family took Rt2 across the top of the country so a couple of days could be spent in Glacier National Park and then the ferry from Bellingham. A week was allowed to get from NH to Seattle where I met up with them. We also spent a full day in Seattle and had a leisurely drive up to Bellingham. We departed the ferry in Skagway and took 2 days to get to the Anchorage area, overnighting in Tok. You can easily spend 3-4 weeks in Alaska so with the time getting there and back, so I think adding Utah to your trip may be too ambitious. Rt 2 was chosen because my husband hates major highways and thought it would be more scenic. We were very lucky to get car space and a cabin since I didn't reserve until something like March but I had to be flexible on the date. We also didn't know what vehicle we would be driving so I reserved for a pickup truck. The cost is based on the length of the vehicle. After a long drive, the ferry ride was a nice way for my husband and son to relax. They had also spent a day outside of Seattle exploring. Extra time was allowed not only for sightseeing but in case they had any trouble with our son's newly purchased used car with high mileage.
You definitely need the Milepost. We did not plan extra time along the Inside Passage except for Skagway where we departed the ferry. If you haven't done long road trips, it can be very tiring. You also need to pack light and be flexible. On our last visit we flew, spent 3 weeks and still didn't get to Denali. Hope you have a wonderful time and a great trip!

We used freetrip.com last year (we use it for all trips) from Woodstock to Banff, Jasper, and Revelstroke, BC via Glacier NP. It will also give you hotel listings along the way.
You may have to make several entries depending on your starting and ending points. Going, I had two segments. Woodstock to Glacier NP, and Glacier to Jasper. Coming home the shorter route was through SK.

Well, several years ago we took 5 months to do this from Florida (but we also stayed in New York for a month of that time and then went from there).

We enjoyed going up through Fargo to Winnipeg and then across Canada, up through Calgary and Edmonton, and on to Whitehorse.
However then we went to Dawson City (OK) and across the Top of the World Highway. This was the part we wouldn't do again. We kept waiting for the spectacular scenry on that horrible dirt road. We knew it was a rough road, but not prepared for the constand fine dust we encountered and thought it would be worth it for the spectacular scenery -- which we never saw. I would head off the other way from Whitehorse and go up to Tok and across to Anchorage. Then return via the ferry through the Inner Passage. We enjoyed staying in Haines, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan a couple nights each, breaking up the ferry ride, and then took it all the way down to Bellingham.

We were actually in Alaska one month, which was nice. We would have cut out Fairbanks if we had it to over again. But would concentrate on the areas south of there, particular the Kenai peninsula.

Our biggest highlights were three night stays in Denali Backcountry Lodge and Kenai Backcountry Lodge. Those were special treats (but admittedly the most expensive parts of the whole trip).

My biggest suggestion is that four to six weeks isn't really long enough to do a lot of dawdling along the way. I'd rethink the idea of spending a bunch of time in the Utal parks or other places along the way. Those are trips you can do another time, but I'd save most of the time for Alaska itself (and western Canada) if it will truly be a single trip of a lifetime.

If there is any area along the way you want to spend some time, I'd make it the Canadian Rockies -- again because it is so far away from you and is on the way. Beware though that in some ways the scenery there might almost make Alaska pale in comparison!

Thanks so much to all of you for your prompt replies.

It certainly sounds as though we will not have enough time to devote to Utah, so I will cross that off the list.

Actually, I-64 is perfect as it runs right through our small town--Covington, VA. I will check out both Freetrip.com and the Milepost.

We will not be traveling until June of 2007, but I thought it would be a good idea to "get my ducks in a row" now.

Thanks especially for your route suggestions. We do want to drive and do a small crusie ship up the inside passage. We would love to take the Ferry and come and go as we please, but I wasn't sure about where to get off and spend time or how much time to allow for some of the places.

Thanks again. Anything else you think of, I'll be happy to hear.

Lynda

ttt