Is Top of the World Hwy paved

It only takes a few miles climbing out of Dawson City to realize where the name of this road comes from. For much of the 127 kilometers (79 miles) between Dawson and the junction with the Taylor Highway, it wanders around the high points of a series of ridges far above treeline, and the views just go on and on forever.
The fall colors on the Top of the World Highway in Canada's Yukon Territory are a photographer's dream come true - and fall comes very early here! The highway was all paved (chipsealed, actually) in the late 1990s, but the chipseal hasn't been maintained, so as of 2013, about half of it is gravel.

The Top of the World puts on its finest show for photographers shortly after the first hard frosts arrive, usually in mid-August. The hills turn colours so brilliant that it seems almost unreal, as you can see to the right.

There is only one campground on the Top of the World, right at the ferry landing in West Dawson. There are many large parking areas, though, where campers can "boondock". If you plan on overnighting in Chicken or Tok, the fairly short distance involved on this leg of your journey allows for a late start out of Dawson City, effectively giving an extra half-day for exploring "The City of Gold". Some people, however, continue on to Fairbanks, for a total day's mileage of 632 kilometers (393 miles).

The Top of the World Highway is wide and has few steep drops, but that's not the case once you cross the border into Alaska. This is one of the routes where experience driving on mountain roads makes the difference between an easy and enjoyable journey and one that is memorable for other reasons. If narrow, winding mountain roads are all in a day's work for you, you're going to have a lot of fun! If you're not, just keep your speed down and make lots of stops to enjoy the views. There is very little traffic, but if someone comes up behind you, make whatever effort you can to let them by so everyone has a good trip.

We did the TOW without the rig. Drove up from Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway to TOK. Stayed a night or so and then parked the rigs with the AC power hooked up. Easy drive in the truck--stayed a few days in Dawson at a B&B. Then drove back to TOK--hooked up and stayed another 7 weeks in AK.

If the reason you are hesitant about Top of the World is dust and gravel then there are fixes. A heck of a lot of folks get very creative about protecting the front of their trailer - we joined that group and duct taped 1/2 inch closed-cell sleeping pads to the front of our Airstream - they did their job and it was money well spent.

The secret about Top of the World is speed (NOT). It's all one great photo-op so take your time. There were more than a few spots on the Alaska side of the highway where we were down to walking speed - I think it is fair to say that those who suffer damage on that highway ignore an obvious need to slow down.

Enjoy your trip - and do take the Top of the World highway - it will be a highlight.


Jay

Ok everyone, I'm sorry. I was thinking of "Going To The Sun" in Glacier.

My apologies.

2gypsies wrote:
OP - since you don't like dust/gravel and your wife needs guardrails, I highly suggest you skip the Top of the World Highway. You might even have difficulty with the whole Alaskan trip if you don't like dust. Re-think your goal. Hopefully, you'll change your mind. All that dust/gravel is well worth it.

Our trip started as a once in a life time trip - cross it off the bucket list.

But it turned into an incredible adventure and we're going back!

OP - since you don't like dust/gravel and your wife needs guardrails, I highly suggest you skip the Top of the World Highway. You might even have difficulty with the whole Alaskan trip if you don't like dust. Re-think your goal. Hopefully, you'll change your mind. All that dust/gravel is well worth it.

From my trip log on 13 Jun 2013. Traveling from Dawson City, YT to Chicken, AK.

When I say pavement I am not talking about regular asphalt pavement. This is just a couple of inches of chip seal type construction.

From the Ferry to mile 5.5 – good 2-lane pavement.
Mile 5.5 to 46.3 – gravel surface, poor to very good, lot of rough spots and several areas with pot holes. Watch for red flags. Was not a bad drive as long as you watch the road and drive the road conditions. My speed was 15 to 40 mph.
Mile 46.3 to 47.7 – pavement.
Mile 47.7 to 49.6 – gravel.
Mile 49.6 to 51.2 – pavement.
Mile 51.2 to 51.8 – gravel.
Mile 51.8 to 58.9 – pavement.
Mile 58.9 to 60.0 – deteriorating pavement.
Mile 60.0 to 62.2 – deteriorating pavements has turned to gravel.
Mile 62.2 to 65.3 – pavement. Border crossing.

Mile 65.3 to Chicken – gravel, poor to very good. They are in the process of widening the road between the border and the turnoff to Eagle. About 2.5 miles is under actual construction. The construction area starts 13 miles from the border crossing. There are a lot of really bad sections on the 40 miles to Chicken but also some that is very good.

Will be more gravel sections in 2014 as the chip seal continues to deteriorate.

The drive was 4 1/2 hours. This was our third trip over the road.

Go and enjoy.

Road Runners wrote:
So when I drove to Alaska,pulling our fiver,I heard all the horror stories about how bad the roads were. But... I found the roads to be a lot better than the roads I learned to drive on. It is all a matter of perspective.

Having started driving the Alaska Highway and the Top of the World commercially with a 1976 MCI coach in 1990, I do laugh at some of the comments made about today's roads :)

Top of the world Hwy is in much better shape to drive on than most parts of the Alaskan hwy, Just my thought's as I can't wait to go back and drive it again, God willing as we are getting on in the yrs.

iawoody2 wrote:
When we went in 2010, left Iowa mid May, we only had about 20 of non paved just before Alaska border. We took the Alaska Canadian highway, didn't go to Chicken.

You are talking about the Alcan highway - NOT the Top of the World highway!