We have been to Alaska before but this summer plan to travel the 'Top of the World Highway' between Dawson City & Chicken. My question is whether there is a best way to drive this road, East to West or West to East? Which direction results in meeting less traffic? Which direction results in less exposure to falling off a cliff? Any other helpful hints would be appreciated. I realize this is mostly a dirt/gravel road and one has to be cautious when the road surface is wet. Sounds like the scenery makes the trip worthwhile.

East to west in early spring OR west to east in late fall are your best times to have the least opposing traffic. As far as falling off a cliff, it makes NO difference as you have them going either way.

Both directions provide plenty of miles driving on the outside shoulder, as the road weaves in and around both sides of some pretty steep hills.When I drove the road in June 2014 there was still snow here and there, especially in the shaded areas.Some of the up hill grades were freshly graveled when I drove it, and creeping along at only 5 mph, I felt I needed 4wd to maintain forward progress. The gravel on this road is not passenger car type gravel, but LARGE sharp chunks of rock; industrial road type gravel.The scenery was outstanding - plan on spending the good part of a day to drive it despite rather short miles, watch for big mining trucks and enjoy.

If you drive west to east, the most severe drop will be on the other side of the road. This is the section where we met a wide load hauling a bulldozer, some of the other drivers needed clean underware. ;) Really made us glad to be in the skinny Winnie.

Maybe that road has gotten a lot worse since I was there, but I don't remember and cliffs or 'industrial size' gravel.It was a great, and easy drive.

Don't worry about the drive. They paved a big chunk of the Top of the World last year and there is less than 20 miles of gravel. Everybody leaves Dawson in the morning going west and in the evening everybody is heading east into Dawson. I was on it 3 times last year and don't recall any scary parts but I have been on the highway dozens of times. I did tow my fiver from Mandan to Selfridge down highway 6 and that was scary because there was no shoulder and steep drop offs on each side. Any mistakes would have been a disaster. That paved road was more technical to me than the Top of the World.Most oncoming traffic you meet on the Top of the World will be touring like you and have the same concerns for their own safety. Slow down for each other and enjoy the trip.

Top of The World Highway-Between Dawson City & Chicken

27 Replies

Johnny_G1
Explorer
Jan 13, 2015
The only bad part of that road is from the US border to Boundry Air strip, the rest is in better shape than most other hwy's in the north.
sheltieRV
Explorer
Jan 13, 2015
explorenorth wrote:
Until I see for myself that it's not still the case, I'm working on the assumption that the Taylor Highway south of Walker Fork Campground still looks like this. There's been no changes to this section in the 25 years I've been driving it.

Sorry, you are correct...here is the 13 miles of dirt road, seemed paved to me.

TOW Paved

:B
AlCar
Explorer
Jan 12, 2015
Veebyes wrote:
Fer2005 wrote:
Did anybody driving a Class A have problems with the ferry crossing. I watched some you tubes and noticed a significant dip when loading and unloading from the ferry. I'm worried about dragging the rear end.

The ferry crew is very expeienced & have the equipment for whatever vehicle. Pay attention to their directions & all will be fine.

I saw the same you tube clip and I can tell you that my 30 footer got on and off with no dipping, no scrapping and no problems whatsoever. Like we said, follow the instruction of the crew and you will have no problems. Enjoy the trip.
rag-ftw
Explorer
Jan 12, 2015
"The ferry crew is very expeienced & have the equipment for whatever vehicle. Pay attention to their directions & all will be fine"

Ditto, we were 60+ feet and had no problems of any kind on the ferry.
Veebyes
Explorer II
Jan 12, 2015
Fer2005 wrote:
Did anybody driving a Class A have problems with the ferry crossing. I watched some you tubes and noticed a significant dip when loading and unloading from the ferry. I'm worried about dragging the rear end.

The ferry crew is very expeienced & have the equipment for whatever vehicle. Pay attention to their directions & all will be fine.
Fer2005
Explorer
Jan 12, 2015
Did anybody driving a Class A have problems with the ferry crossing. I watched some you tubes and noticed a significant dip when loading and unloading from the ferry. I'm worried about dragging the rear end.
explorenorth
Explorer
Jan 11, 2015
Until I see for myself that it's not still the case, I'm working on the assumption that the Taylor Highway south of Walker Fork Campground still looks like this. There's been no changes to this section in the 25 years I've been driving it.
sheltieRV
Explorer
Jan 11, 2015
rag-ftw wrote:
We went West to East in mid September a few days after the first hard freeze. The border doesn't open until 8am which means you should not have any opposing traffic early in the day.

Agreed. We left Chicken early (hoping to see wildlife) and saw very little traffic through the early/worst part of the road since the border was closed. The 13 miles of pavement was a really nice break.
rag-ftw
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
We went West to East in mid September a few days after the first hard freeze. The road was mostly frozen hard so we had no dust or mud but fabulous scenery with the changing colors. I think going in the fall is better than spring because they have all summer to work on the road. Also leave as early in the morning as possible. The border doesn't open until 8am which means you should not have any opposing traffic early in the day.

Spring or fall, east or west doesn't matter as much as just doing it!!!
EEWally
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
We went west-to-east last June 26. We camped at the Yukon River Government Campground across the river from Dawson. That allowed us to see the hulks of paddle wheel boats downstream from the campground. We also had no line for the ferry to Dawson.

After camping a couple nights at the Bonanza Creek RV Park, we were glad not to follow the 2 big west-bound caravans that were also camped there.