Condition of roads to Arctic Circle

I would say a well made class B or C should make it to Deadhorse no problem. Some are pretty fragile and the road would shake the hell out of it.

The main difference with a Truck Camper is that you do not hear the shaking of things. My wife stayed in once for a short move around on and off road and she said it was hell inside. But I never had a problem with this Bigfoot TC, not one thing crack or broken, twice to Deadhorse, once to Dempster and many time 100 miles up some bad gravel roads for fishing trips.

I tried a ride in a Class A long ago on a washboard gravel road, Holiday Rambler gasser 30 ft, let me tel you, it was horrible inside, you though the wall where falling apart and as you sit on top of the wheels, it was really shaking. It is hard to tell if anything got loose or not.

Kidoo wrote:

c.traveler2 wrote:
12thgenusa, Driving your 5th wheel to the Arctic Circle by the way of the "Haul Road" isn't problematic. In the summer of 2015 (July) we traveled this road all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and it was great.

We saw all kinds of RV's on this road and during the summer time there is enough traffic to flag down for help if you break down including the pipeline security patrol in which we saw no less than once a day.

5th Whell on the Haul Road


We did a stop at the Arctic Circle and checked out the campground there, here's a short video to give than idea of what that campground looks likes
click on pic for video


You can motor on up to Coldfoot to refuel, another 60 mile north of the Arctic Circle. If you haven't done so yet pick up a copy of the Milepost an excellent source of information.

If you decide on going all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and want to do the Prudhoe Bay tour (highly recommend). Make reservation before you head on up, here's an link to Deadhorse Camp for their Arctic Tour, PM me if you want further information.

Us at Deadhorse, boondocking along the Sag River


Have a spare tire for your truck and trailer, tire plugs, air compressor, the truckers use CBs for communications, there is no cell service till you reach Deadhorse and its Verizon only( while we were there). We did get a very small rock in our tire cause a very slow leak and had it repaired at Peeks in Deadhorse.

You'll find that 99.9% of the truckers are very courtesy, we had only one trucker that didn't slow down while we did.

Have fun on your trip, your on vacation!

Your truc is pretty clean! When I was there, it was a real mess, there was mud all over.

Did you see any Class A up to Deadhorse?

We didn't see any class A, but did see a couple of class C's.
Just south of Hot Spot Cafe



In Deadhorse,Alaska





Most of the class C's that we did see turn around at the Arctic Circle, but I don't see any reason that a Class A couldn't make the trip to Deadhorse/ Prudhoe Bay if it's in good condition. We were lucky about the mud, the road stayed relatively dry even after a lite rain.

c.traveler2 wrote:
12thgenusa, Driving your 5th wheel to the Arctic Circle by the way of the "Haul Road" isn't problematic. In the summer of 2015 (July) we traveled this road all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and it was great.

We saw all kinds of RV's on this road and during the summer time there is enough traffic to flag down for help if you break down including the pipeline security patrol in which we saw no less than once a day.

5th Whell on the Haul Road


We did a stop at the Arctic Circle and checked out the campground there, here's a short video to give than idea of what that campground looks likes
click on pic for video


You can motor on up to Coldfoot to refuel, another 60 mile north of the Arctic Circle. If you haven't done so yet pick up a copy of the Milepost an excellent source of information.

If you decide on going all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and want to do the Prudhoe Bay tour (highly recommend). Make reservation before you head on up, here's an link to Deadhorse Camp for their Arctic Tour, PM me if you want further information.

Us at Deadhorse, boondocking along the Sag River


Have a spare tire for your truck and trailer, tire plugs, air compressor, the truckers use CBs for communications, there is no cell service till you reach Deadhorse and its Verizon only( while we were there). We did get a very small rock in our tire cause a very slow leak and had it repaired at Peeks in Deadhorse.

You'll find that 99.9% of the truckers are very courtesy, we had only one trucker that didn't slow down while we did.

Have fun on your trip, your on vacation!

Your truc is pretty clean! When I was there, it was a real mess, there was mud all over.

Did you see any Class A up to Deadhorse?

12thgenusa, Driving your 5th wheel to the Arctic Circle by the way of the "Haul Road" isn't problematic. In the summer of 2015 (July) we traveled this road all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and it was great.

We saw all kinds of RV's on this road and during the summer time there is enough traffic to flag down for help if you break down including the pipeline security patrol in which we saw no less than once a day.

5th Whell on the Haul Road


We did a stop at the Arctic Circle and checked out the campground there, here's a short video to give than idea of what that campground looks likes
click on pic for video


You can motor on up to Coldfoot to refuel, another 60 mile north of the Arctic Circle. If you haven't done so yet pick up a copy of the Milepost an excellent source of information.

If you decide on going all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and want to do the Prudhoe Bay tour (highly recommend). Make reservation before you head on up, here's an link to Deadhorse Camp for their Arctic Tour, PM me if you want further information.

Us at Deadhorse, boondocking along the Sag River


Have a spare tire for your truck and trailer, tire plugs, air compressor, the truckers use CBs for communications, there is no cell service till you reach Deadhorse and its Verizon only( while we were there). We did get a very small rock in our tire cause a very slow leak and had it repaired at Peeks in Deadhorse.

You'll find that 99.9% of the truckers are very courtesy, we had only one trucker that didn't slow down while we did.

Have fun on your trip, your on vacation!

I made the trip to Deadhorse with my Truck Camper twice. Mud was hugly. I now have a Class A and wonder how you deal with the mud on and especially under the RV? This stuff get real hard after a while, it is calcium mix with mud, I still had some left over under my truck after 2 years.

I was thinking of taking my Class A to Deadhorse but the mud really scares me. Will I be able to wash it all down? Maybe bringing a pressure washer?

As for rocks on the windshield, big trucks really slows down when you cross them and I would probably just stop when I meet one or any truck as a matter of fact.

Thanks everyone for all the good info. We will probably camp at the arctic circle within a week after the solstice.

We have been to Dead Horse once, flew up and driven back by a young college student in a 12 passenger van, we drove to the Arctic Circle in a Rental RV and spent the night at the BLM campground about a mile N/O the circle.

I would do it in my own vehicle, it was no worse than several roads we had to drive in the 12,000 round trip. I agree with slowing down when you see approaching trucks and moving as far to the right as possible. If the road is dry and dusty, stopping for trucks is a good idea.

We met a nice couple from Switzerland who had just arrived from Ushuaia. All told, 18 months on the road. Very nice to talk to and the DW really wishes we could do it too.

Virtually everything from Fairbanks to Dead Horse(525 miles) is beautiful and all the campgrounds we saw were primitive. So What!, it is just part of the adventure.

The road in 2010 was great except for the paved part and that would tear your shocks off. As far as tire damage, we have been on the haul road twice and no problems. Windshields, shouldn't be a problem, our only chip was from some young kid in his beater Datsun pickup. We were heading for the CG at Willow and were on a section under repair the Glenn HWY and almost to the paved section. Unlike a trucker who has to spend a lot for a new windshield, that kid didn't give a hoot.

It's a fun drive but if we do it again, I think we'll drive up and fly back this time. I like being able to look around instead of having to drive.

We drove our 27' Class C to the Circle. We spent the "night" there and watched the sun not set. We got gas at the Yukon River station and also our Arctic Circle hat pin. We stopped at the Wildwood General Store going and on the return trip they presented us with our Arctic Circle Certificates. A very nice gesture. Drive slow and enjoy the trip.

GordonThree wrote:
So the old horror stories about the road are still true then? It'll cost you at least two tires, a windshield and perhaps personal injury to drive the road end to end?

Not at all. Granted, we only took our Class A to Coldfoot without damage and our toad most of the rest of the way up to the bay last year without damage. Maybe it is that last 50 or so miles (out of over 400) that are so damaging.

In fact, a large number of miles are now paved and wonderfully smooth. I think they leave the first 60 miles bad to discourage people. Those 60 miles were the worst of what we encountered (and yet, no damage) and the drive through Atigun Pass is so worth it.

The only damage we did to our bus and our toad on the entire drive was add a few hundred pounds of mud.

No, they are not true. Of course, it does depend on how you drive and pay attention to on coming traffic. I prefer to pull over when I see them coming, slow down and even stop.
There is also gas available at the Yukon River Bridge. No, I didn't look at the price as we did not need any. Has a little snack type eatery.