Denali Hwy 8
After doing the usual roads & sights multiple times I think that this year really will be our last trip to Alaska. Said that three times before. There are few roads, paved or maintained gravel, whi...
Forum Discussion
Although I haven't driven the entire Denali Highway since 2001, I doubt much has changed at all....
The eastern half of the Denali Highway route has always been quite a bit rougher than the western side, as it can get pretty rough along the MacLaren Summit corridor....
Especially if it rains hard, or after a significant rainfall - the entire unpaved portions of the Denali Highway can be just plain rough period - and particularly along the MacLaren Summit area during rainfall are known to have poor to zero visibility conditions also as I got caught up in that more than one time....
Two to three days is generally ideal to experience passing thru the entire Denali Highway upon excellent to light rain type weather conditions while taking your time as I drive pretty slow thru this stretch with my old 1970 Ford Truck and cabover camper on it (5 to 10 mph if needed) as I would generally average in the low 20 mph range on the unpaved portions that were not rough....
I would say wear and tear will not be an issue if one would allow "in general normal conditions" 6 hours driving time on the unpaved portions and a total of 7 to 8 hours total driving time on the entire 135 mile route.
I would allow an extra day stretch of travel along the Denali Highway upon bad weather conditions of three to four days time while leasuring in between - for those who care about their rigs and not constraint for travel time.
As the other posts were spot on, large area turnouts and parking to accommodate a large rig are limited, however one should appear no more than a 30 mile gap distance at the most (safely for a large rig) if my memory serves right....
As far as for other potential travelers reading this post taking on the Denali Highway regarding fuel distances as being a concern, my sound advice would be to always carry extra spare fuel and ONLY count on fuel supply available in Cantwell (west end of Denali Highway) and Delta Junction (81 miles from east end of Denali Highway)....
Rule of thumb for those upon traveling in the far north of Canada and Alaska :
Never truly rely on fuel supply from any remote location of a lodge or roadhouse for even those handful of remote reputable places who know how to pay their bills and have a great credit line for automatic fuel delivery, as there have been more than enough times where the fuel companies themselves are the major problem upon delayed delivery or supply issues as these remote out of the way places are not priority for fuel deliveries when those logistic glitches happen.
Paxson Lodge (east end junction of Denali highway) over the years was hit and miss for fuel availability -
Open and maybe fuel available -
Open and maybe NO fuel available
Closed up for business
Reopened for business and maybe fuel available
Reopened for business but no fuel available
Closed for business again, etc, etc....
The Denali Highway is truly scenic in every aspect as I have also taken on both directions of travel, and in my opinion it is a bit more scenic and enjoyable while viewing the trip enroute from east to west direction as you deal with the more rugged half side first and have more downhill and less ascend in the westbound direction from MacLaren Summit - the only minus grade from east to west direction of travel here would be if one were to commute during the time of 900pm and later, as the sun will be staring right at you for 2 to 3 hours until it lowers toward the horizon....
The Denali Highway route also has the least amount of general traffic and hardly any commercial traffic at all out of all the Alaskan "major highway" routes too, even less traffic busy than the Dalton and Taylor Highway remote routes as you get the least "I'm Joe blow and I'm in a hurry" type of drivers from behind to deal with.
This posted message is from YOUR - 2023 Nenana Ice Classic Winner !!!!
The eastern half of the Denali Highway route has always been quite a bit rougher than the western side, as it can get pretty rough along the MacLaren Summit corridor....
Especially if it rains hard, or after a significant rainfall - the entire unpaved portions of the Denali Highway can be just plain rough period - and particularly along the MacLaren Summit area during rainfall are known to have poor to zero visibility conditions also as I got caught up in that more than one time....
Two to three days is generally ideal to experience passing thru the entire Denali Highway upon excellent to light rain type weather conditions while taking your time as I drive pretty slow thru this stretch with my old 1970 Ford Truck and cabover camper on it (5 to 10 mph if needed) as I would generally average in the low 20 mph range on the unpaved portions that were not rough....
I would say wear and tear will not be an issue if one would allow "in general normal conditions" 6 hours driving time on the unpaved portions and a total of 7 to 8 hours total driving time on the entire 135 mile route.
I would allow an extra day stretch of travel along the Denali Highway upon bad weather conditions of three to four days time while leasuring in between - for those who care about their rigs and not constraint for travel time.
As the other posts were spot on, large area turnouts and parking to accommodate a large rig are limited, however one should appear no more than a 30 mile gap distance at the most (safely for a large rig) if my memory serves right....
As far as for other potential travelers reading this post taking on the Denali Highway regarding fuel distances as being a concern, my sound advice would be to always carry extra spare fuel and ONLY count on fuel supply available in Cantwell (west end of Denali Highway) and Delta Junction (81 miles from east end of Denali Highway)....
Rule of thumb for those upon traveling in the far north of Canada and Alaska :
Never truly rely on fuel supply from any remote location of a lodge or roadhouse for even those handful of remote reputable places who know how to pay their bills and have a great credit line for automatic fuel delivery, as there have been more than enough times where the fuel companies themselves are the major problem upon delayed delivery or supply issues as these remote out of the way places are not priority for fuel deliveries when those logistic glitches happen.
Paxson Lodge (east end junction of Denali highway) over the years was hit and miss for fuel availability -
Open and maybe fuel available -
Open and maybe NO fuel available
Closed up for business
Reopened for business and maybe fuel available
Reopened for business but no fuel available
Closed for business again, etc, etc....
The Denali Highway is truly scenic in every aspect as I have also taken on both directions of travel, and in my opinion it is a bit more scenic and enjoyable while viewing the trip enroute from east to west direction as you deal with the more rugged half side first and have more downhill and less ascend in the westbound direction from MacLaren Summit - the only minus grade from east to west direction of travel here would be if one were to commute during the time of 900pm and later, as the sun will be staring right at you for 2 to 3 hours until it lowers toward the horizon....
The Denali Highway route also has the least amount of general traffic and hardly any commercial traffic at all out of all the Alaskan "major highway" routes too, even less traffic busy than the Dalton and Taylor Highway remote routes as you get the least "I'm Joe blow and I'm in a hurry" type of drivers from behind to deal with.
This posted message is from YOUR - 2023 Nenana Ice Classic Winner !!!!
