Average Speed

It sort of looks like a 2 month trip to be completed in 1 month is being planned.

Going to The North takes a plan but that plan needs to be very flexible. Roadworks, ooooH & ahhhhh stops, critter sighting stops, potty stops, critter jams even if you don't want to stop, weather, even breakdowns all put a spanner in the works for those trying to keep a set demanding schedule.

Our trip to Alaska this year from Maryland averaged a little over 100 miles per day, 120 days.

I'll support those who say that your average speed over a longer trip will be less than when doing a short trip. An example from Newfoundland.

People from Corner Brook take 8 hours to drive to St. John's, Newfoundland at legal speeds. Likewise to drive to Port aux Basques at legal speeds from Corner Brook should take you 2 1/2 to 2 hours 45 minutes.

Yet the people who live in Port aux Basques plan on spending 12 hours to drive from there to St. John's. Or, they wisely plan on some longer stops on that longer trip.

If you've got pets, you will need to include things they enjoy and need in your stops.

:C

I tend to use 50 mph for an average speed for planning from here in south Florida, it is roughly 5,000 miles or about 100 hours of driving time to Fairbanks. For me, that works out to be about 10 driving days. Seldom do I go up or back in those 10 days but have before. I know where I want to stop and spend time, so it generally takes about two to three weeks to get in that 100 hours of driving. From here to the Canadian border, I may make closer to 600 miles a day, then less the farther north I get.

When I go to the north country, that is where I want to spend my time, not sitting somewhere watching the grass try to grow. Some people like to only drive 3 or 4 hours a day, but it is going to take them a month, give or take, to get to Alaska. It you have no time restrainsts, that works for a few, but most of us, retired or not tend to only have so much time for the trip. Age and personal health play a big roll with some as a long day is too tiring for them. So how long to drive is a very personal matter for each of us to decide. I am an early riser and often on the road by 7 AM or earlier, so it is not hard for me to have covered 200 to 250 miles by lunch. If I want to stop and fish, I do or take a few photos. IMHO, a lot of the Alaska Hwy passing through the northern boreal forest, is a bit boring. What you see now, is what you saw yesterday and probably what you will see tomorrow. In the 20 something round trips I have made to/from Alaska, I have yet to find a reason to stop every couple of hours for the night. If, because of a persons age, one trip is all they will ever make, then they are going to want to see everything they can on this one trip. However, with many of us that are addicted to north country, we know/hope there will be future trips. At my current age, 72, I accept the fact that I only have a few more trips to take. I would like to get in 2 more round trips by RV, to give me a total of 15 rV round trips, a nice even number.
In the past, I have taken a month, one time, and another trip I made it from Anchorage to Houston Texas in 6 days. Neither of those are good choices for me except when those work the best.

Having just driven up to Alaska and back to Iowa, it really does depend on the road conditions and amount of construction, but a 450-500 mile day average is a good 9-10 hours.

Most of the time through Alberta, most of BC, Ontario, you can figure 50MPH average, and easily go 62MPH on the highways if you are not doing much sight-seeing.

Once you get onto the Alaska Hwy at Dawson Creek, there are sections you may only average 30MPH, and others that average 45MPH, and yet others 50MPH. The worse sections are closer to the Alaska border you get. Whitehorse to Alaska, figure being your slowest. Haines Jct to Beaver Creek was the worse segment for us.

The main roads in Alaska are not that bad and most are generally 60 or 65MPH (some slower segments) limits for the main highways between Tok-Fairbanks-Anchorage-Glenallen-Tok. Most of these were in decent shape and you can get a 50MPH average. Glenallen-Tok was a bit slower - 40MPH average due to road conditions.

Construction will slow you down, but if you do searches in Feb at the Department of Transportation of each state/province you can find the planned work for the year. The Alaska 511, Yukon 511, Drive BC, Saskatchewan 511 are great resources just prior and during your trip for daily road conditions, but also long on-going projects.

If you get a chance use Google earth on your route to see the road conditions of when they photo'd the area. Gives a bit of a good idea of the type of roads and some clue what to expect.

Enjoy your drive.

First, I almost never have more than a few people behind me as I pull over when needed and can safely do so. Second, emergency flashers are just for that, when you could use some help, not just because you are stopping.

This is one of the reasons I'm asking, what is a reasonable speed that can be planned on. A 45 mph average requires running about 55 with only occasional stop for fuels and stops.

A 25 mph average may be running 50 mph with more stops that are longer.

I realize everything will change and I'm only looking for estimates. Average 25 vs 35 vs 45 will mean a big difference in driving times over 4,000 miles.

I have pulled a 5er from Alaska down the Mexico border and as far east as Regina in Canada and AZ and on the south western side of the USA and Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore on the North west side of the USA and found that your hwys are no better than ours. Yes we have frost heaves and pot holes but so does Wash State, BC, Yukon and Alaska.
Time for traveling is measured differently up here in Canada, we measure distance by time between points. Like from My house to my Daughters house in Alberta is 6.5 hrs not pulling the 5er and 7.5 hrs pulling the 5er. Distance from here to Vancouver is 8 hours and so on.
Also if you plan on driving that slow please pull over when safe to do so and let the people driving the speed limits pass you. I always watch for people lining up behind me and pull over then I see a spot to do so. Anythinh we hate in the Mountains are a group of semis and or RVer’s traveling in a group and not allowing faster drivers to pass. The Alaska Hwy is a beautiful drive with a lot of wild life all around it, so when you see something you want to watch pull off the side of the road and put on your right hand signal Light. Putting your flashers on my cause people to pul over as well so assist you when none is needed.
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