Denali Highway.

The take away here is to do your homework. The Milepost describes the road as the OP found. And there also are many excellent posts by locals on this board.

Tom/Barb wrote:
From Paxton there are 21 miles of hard road, which this year is very heavily heaved and in a Class A this portion is a 25 mile per hour road. The other end Cantwell east there are 10 miles of hard road, but still is a 30 mile per hour road.

I had to tow my trailer at 15 MPH on the Alaska Highway just east of the Alaska border. The big slabs of frost-heaved and broken asphalt looked like the ice on the Yukon River before breakup. Reconstruction was progressing west from Beaver Creek, but hadn't reached that section yet. And there were frost-heaved sections west of Destruction Bay and on the Tok Cutoff that were 25-30 MPH for us. So, for me at least, 30 MPH on pavement on the Denali Highway seems reasonable.

Tom/Barb wrote:
6 hours today, nothing but pot holes, wash boards, and dust.. 6 hours to do 136 miles, most of the road is dirt.
The basement of our coach has about 1/2" of fine brown powder, the Jeeps is a mess, full of dust.
The only saving was the miles, we could have driven back to Fairbanks then to Delta Junction and down just as quick.

The good thing was drivers were really nice at slowing down and getting over while passing.

Bottom line, it is really rough.

Boy you really rushed, no wonder your rig is beaten up, this road isn't made to rush but to enjoy by traveling it over several days. We did this road in 2015 and it was great, did it over 3 days, saw lots of moose and did some fishing.

Best camp spot in our 8 weeks up north was along the Denali Highway and is shown in the signature.

joe b. wrote:

The Denali Highway is obviously not for everyone,

Some of us come up for different reasons, The first time I saw the park was 1957/8

I too enjoy the Denali Hwy. the 13 years we lived in Nenana Alaska, an extended family camping trip was usually our last trip of the fall before winterizing the RV. My wife's two sisters and their families would join us for a week or so. Normally we stayed in or close to the Tangle Lakes campground, near the eastern end of the road The third Tangle Lake south of the highway has some of the best grayling fishing availing that you can find on the road system. Paxson Lake, not too far away is excellent fishing for Lake trout, in the spring time, just as the ice was melting.
The Denali Highway is obviously not for everyone, but for many/most it is a very special trip across. On my first round trip to Alaska in 1962, I wanted to see Mount McKinley National Park so I drove over the Denali o get there. The Parks Hwy wasn't finished for another 11 years. Yes, the Denali Hwy is a gravel road, no better the last time we drove it in 2011 than it was the first time.

The Denali Hwy is very representative of the way the Alaska Hwy was in the early days. I drove the Alaska Hwy 9 round trips before it was paved so I just take the Denali Hwy the way it is. I have probably been over the Denali Hwy at least 50 times or more, a number of those trips pulling a boat on a trailer. It is basically a 10 mph road at times. I suspect Trackrig, (Bill) has been over it as many times as I have as he grew up in Anderson, just south of Nenana and is a Nenana High School graduate. He now lives in Anchorage, when he and his wife aren't in the Lower 48 running around in their diesel pusher. They spend about half their time outside and the other half in Alaska.

OBTW the Alaskan state bird hatch is fully out, they come in black clouds and like OFF, They believe it is some sort of BBQ sauce :)

fanrgs wrote:
Just so RVers who might want to travel the Denali Highway won't get the wrong impression, the first 20 miles of that 134 miles from the Paxson end are paved. That pavement gets you to the Tangle Lakes Campground, which has 45 campsites, tables, firepits, pit toilets, a boat ramp, and a campground host. There is another public cg at Brushkana Creek (MP 105) with similar amenities. At MP 92, the Maclaren River Lodge also has camping.

As well as the dust, the little kettle lakes that abound on both sides of the Susitna River make the Denali Hwy. a mosquito paradise during warm weather. That's why it is most popular with locals during fall, when the mosquito population has dwindled and hiking is possible. The fall colors also make a perfect foreground for spectacular photos of Mt. McKinley/Denali. Or in winter, when the road is popular with Alaskan dog mushers and snowmobilers (snow machinists?).

Just FYI, before 1973 the Denali Highway was the only car route into Mt. McKinley (now Denali) National Park. Most park visitors took the train for that very reason!

From Paxton there are 21 miles of hard road, which this year is very heavily heaved and in a Class A this portion is a 25 mile per hour road. The other end Cantwell east there are 10 miles of hard road, but still is a 30 mile per hour road.

We spent 3 days in Valdez cleaning and fixing the multitude of little things that broke, or rattled loose, 1 whole day was spent cleaning the 3/4" of brown dust and muck from the jeep inside and out.

The dust is insidious, it infiltrated the Banks brain box for my programmer, then got wet going down to Valdez , then shorted out the circuit board, blew a fuse and now refuses to work.
If you believe that a view of the Alaskan Range for 50 miles away is worth coping with that, you go right head. If you do believe that is wort the trip, I think you have been beauty deprived way too long. there are much better places to enjoy the range with out the dust and rough roads.
we are now in Genallen awaiting parts to replace a broken fuel line on the Cummins. Which I attribute to way too many rough roads this year.

Moved to RVing in Canada and Alaska

Just so RVers who might want to travel the Denali Highway won't get the wrong impression, the first 20 miles of that 134 miles from the Paxson end are paved. That pavement gets you to the Tangle Lakes Campground, which has 45 campsites, tables, firepits, pit toilets, a boat ramp, and a campground host. There is another public cg at Brushkana Creek (MP 105) with similar amenities. At MP 92, the Maclaren River Lodge also has camping.

As well as the dust, the little kettle lakes that abound on both sides of the Susitna River make the Denali Hwy. a mosquito paradise during warm weather. That's why it is most popular with locals during fall, when the mosquito population has dwindled and hiking is possible. The fall colors also make a perfect foreground for spectacular photos of Mt. McKinley/Denali. Or in winter, when the road is popular with Alaskan dog mushers and snowmobilers (snow machinists?).

Just FYI, before 1973 the Denali Highway was the only car route into Mt. McKinley (now Denali) National Park. Most park visitors took the train for that very reason!