Dalton Highway

time2roll wrote:
I thought I read there were three campgrounds along the way.
Could drop the trailer at the first of them.

The first one is called Five mile, Blm run campsite with a dump, potable spring water and non potable water. There is a host on site and a vaulted toilet.

Also the Hot Spot Cafe is right there as well, great ham burgers!

Most folks come up "too late" to do this, but a few years back when I was working, I drove a rig (18-wheeler) from Los Anchorage to Squarebanks, had some work done on the trailer (a tanker) in Squarebanks and headed out of Fairbanks in late afternoon.....

I caught the summer sun just right: it got a bit dusky just out of Squarebanks but my speed north was more than enough to offset the darkness and it was lighter in Prudhoe when I rolled in several hours later than it was in Fairbanks when I left. Since I hit the sack for quite a bit, I can't say if the sun went below the horizon at Prudhoe, but I didn't see a sunset until I hit Los Anchorage at about midnight a few days later on my return trip.

If one's vehicle is suitable, I'd recommend going as far up the "Haul Road" as possible: as noted above, there are areas of very different, but all spectacular scenery along the route and one will miss out on some degree of unique views if you can't take the entire route.

When we were up with the DGKs we met two couples that camped near us in Fairbanks and left their Teardrops there while driving their Model A Fords up and back in one day. If you plan on spending the night, I'd just leave the trailer in Fairbanks. It was a nice easy drive in a 30 foot class "C".

The first "official" campground on the Dalton I think is Five Mile, by the Yukon river crossing, some fifty or sixty miles up the road and halfway to the Arctic Circle wayside/sign/camping area. If you pull the trailer that far, it seems to me one may as well go on and camp at the Arctic Circle. (Note: 5 mile does have drinking water and a dump station, the only dump station for many miles around.)

Frankly, in my opinion, many of the most beautiful parts of the road are farther north. Atigun Pass and the Galbraith Lake campground not too far beyond had some of the most spectacular scenery I saw anywhere on my trip to Alaska. (Galbraith lake campground, it should be said, is a couple very, VERY bumpy miles off the highway. It's a passable road, but plan on a half hour or more at a crawling pace over the washboards.) Other areas also had incredible views. Much farther north and it changes to more rolling, flatter tundra, which is quite beautiful in it's own way but not as awe-inspiringly spectacular.

If you're starting out from the Fairbanks area, maybe you could leave the trailer at whatever campground you're staying at there and take a (longish) day trip to the Arctic Circle sign, if that's really the main destination of interest. I would suggest getting a meal at the little cafe next to the Five Mile campground because everyone you talk to afterwards is going to ask if you ate there!

I thought I read there were three campgrounds along the way.
Could drop the trailer at the first of them.

It's a easy drive to the Arctic Circle,plus there's a BLM campsite right there as well.

Husband took a day tour to the Artic Circle.

There is a truck stop (where the black stop ????) that will allow you to park your RV. I park there for 2 nights while I drove the TV all the way up the highway. Sleep in the TV.

I think the GPS is N65° 01.464' W147° 39.076'

You can also take it as far as the visitors center where there is a large parking lot and then drive up the rest of the way. In 2016 we drove our jeep up to the Arctic Circle picnic area just to have lunch. :)

Ken

Yes.