The Denali Highway opened in 1957 and was the first road access to Denali National Park until the Parks Highway was completed in 1971. The road is mostly gravel and can be a little rough at times.
In 2018, we drove the Denali highway from Cantwell to Paxson and back in one day and we felt really rushed. So this time we wanted to slow down, find cool places to camp and explore. The weather was still pretty awesome so we had pretty clear views of the mountains and glaciers of the Alaska Range.
We found a great spot on top of a hill where we had an amazing view and were still pretty secluded from anyone traveling on the road. There are so many places to camp along this road, it was hard picking one.
We drove up Valdez Creek Mine Road to Roosevelt Lake. This is a pretty good road with a few water crossings. We were hoping for a nice campsite at the end on the lake but found an active mine operation. We drove through, looked around and then headed back.
This cool bus was among the scrap in and around the mining area. We went about halfway back to an awesome spot right on Valdez Creek. We didn’t even turn the sound machine on that night because it was so loud!
The next day we drove up Windy Creek Trail that brought us up to Wedding Pass where there was another mining operation that turned us around. It was a really decent trail with awesome views. We only passed two trucks presumably coming from the mine, otherwise we had the place to ourselves. The trail was easy, a little tight at times and had a couple water crossings as well.
Those are the only two roads that Craig had found to explore so we continued on. We were happy to find gas at Maclaren River Lodge. We weren’t even sure we would be able to get gas on the Denali Highway. The iOverlander reviews were pretty vague and nothing was showing up on Google. We were a little nervous about possibly having to make it all the way to Delta Juntion for gas. So we were even more happy that we didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it, $4.50 a gallon on a remote road wasn’t bad.
We continued on to Tangle Lakes Lodge to stretch our legs and grab some food. We found a spot to camp on the outskirts of a trailhead parking lot and were instantly swarmed by mosquitoes. We were happy to get out of there the next day.
And just like that we were done with the Denali Highway. We had seen and done everything we had set out to do so we continued north on the Richardson Highway. We stopped off for a few pictures next to the Alaska Pipeline. It’s always neat to see it and it’s pretty awesome to think that it is 800 miles long and brings oil from Prudhoe Bay all the way down to Valdez.
Craig had read about the Castner Ice Cave but we weren’t sure what condition it would be in late July. I read up on the trail and it sounded like it was worth checking out and we were due for a hike, it’s been awhile. It was only 3 miles but the trail toward the end was a little hard to follow and we got to scramble over rocks. We really wanted to cross the river to get into the cave but that was not the safest idea so we just took our pics and were pretty amazed how much ice was still there.
We made our way to Delta Junction for gas and a quick beer at the Delta Junction Brewing Company. We then found a great little spot to camp on the Gerstle River just a little bit away from a rest area. Thankfully the bugs were not bad and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the view.
As we were leaving our spot in the morning, we stopped at the bathrooms and we met a couple traveling full-time in a van but were buying a Four Wheel Camper and F350 next week. We ended up talking to them for almost 2 hours. It was cool to chat with like minded people and hear about all the places they have been and want to go.
We made our way into Tok a little later than planned but it worked out fine. We showered and did laundry at a gas station and by that time were were both starving. Fast Eddy’s was right across the street! So we got ourselves another aweomse pizza and then got back on the road to Chicken.
We knew we could camp for free at the Chicken Saloon so we made the push and got there around 8pm. We had a couple beers and ended up outside chatting with people and petting dogs. It turned out to be another fun night at the Chicken Saloon even though it started to rain.
We finally called it a night and found a spot to park the rig and crash for the night. It was the latest we’ve stayed up in a while! We were up fairly early because sleeping in a parking lot is never the quietest.
We continued on the Taylor Highway headed to Canada. The Taylor Highway was rough and it was pretty slow going at times. The border agent asked minimal questions and we crossed faster than we ever have before at the northernmost border crossing. Hello Yukon!
We got to the Yukon River outside of Dawson City and had to wait in line for the ferry to bring us across. It was way busier than it had been in 2018. There was a long line for RVs and a long line for regular size vehicles. We got on the 3rd time the ferry came back. They were only putting one large RV on at a time along with us regular sized vehicles. There were so many RVs in line and it will take them hours to finally get across.
In Dawson City we grabbed lunch and filled all our containers with water and headed for the Dempster Highway. We’ve been so excited to get back up to the Arctic Ocean! We didn’t drive too far and settled in for the night. We have been watching the weather because the Dempster can be terrible in the rain. There is a low chance of rain early next week but mid to end of the week looks awesome. We are excited to see the changes in the town since 2018. It will be another amazing experience and we can’t wait!
Off to Tuktoyaktuk…