Top of the World Highway, Alaska, United States

5AK FlyFish Girl 5:00 PM Aug 23, 2020

Second to LAST... highway to drive!
Headed to Eagle and Chicken with a short drive onto TWH before having to turn around. We will have to return to drive it further for our originally planned trip to Dawson, COVID-19 changed all our plans. Next year!

4greg g 5:00 PM Sep 16, 2014

just do it !
just back from alaska & yukon, our original plan to hire an rv and drive the dempster but details prevented it; most rentals from whitehorse and we were doing a loop from alaska, needing to avoid backtrack. first, it is difficult to find a rental co. which will allow a vehicle to be taken to canada, and then there is the universal prohibition of 'unpaved roads'...we are law abiding folk, but already disappointed in abandoning our dempster plan (even located a co. which would deliver a rental vehicle from inuvik to dawson city for a 1200$, 3 day rental!) we were determined to drive top of the world. still waffling, i drove while my copilot read trip advisor and other reviews aloud... the majority seeming to warn of a challenging, pitted road requiring multiple spare tires. the consensus was the canadian side was better, and east to west was the most travelled route. spent a night in tok, ak, still undecided until we met a 60-something couple from montreal who were planning to drive the TOW the next day on their daughter's recommendation (she had lived in dawson city, canoed the yukon and driven TOW several times). they were driving what we call a 'mouse', an econobox rental car with ordinary tires. we, on the other hand, altho suv rentals were cost prohibitive, had selected our full size sedan specifically for the durable tires it was outfitted with. we looked at each other; it was a go. next a.m. drove to the junction of the taylor and proceeded north... clouds in the distance but a stunningly beautiful end of august day. the landscape was noticeably different and traffic sparse, a good thing when on gravel to avoid windshield dings. we were so freaked out by the conflicting info we tried to find a mounted spare tire to supplement the emergency spare onboard, to no avail. we were on our way, breezed thru chicken, past eagle, later kicking ourselves we did not visit but we were prepared for a 7 or more hour journey in which the weather could change in an instant. the drive was beautiful; we heeded advice to GO SLOW, rarely exceeding 40mph and averaging maybe 30. at one point an empty tour bus , then 18 wheeler passed us headed the opposite way! our confidence raised, and when we neared the summit we found the last 10 miles or so on the U.S. side newly paved! stopped to take photos on both sides, just east of border makes a great photo that with a big imagination could be an exotic outpost crossing in central asia or the himalayas! heres where the reviews failed; the canadian side was worse... but not bad. anyone who has grown up in a place with dirt roads would find this one similar; adequately wide for passing, graded with not too bad washboard effect, no guardrails but not really necessary. i wouldn't call any of the many twists 'hairpin' and i think we were so cautious from what we read that the TOW was a pleasant surprise. heading east, the last 6 or 7 miles are a steady but easy descent to the free, 24 hr. ferry taking you across the yukon into dawson city, well worth a couple day visit. no flats, no windshield pits...the rest of our trip took us to whitehorse, then west to haines junction up to fairbanks and the roads in both countries on these routes were far worse than TOW, with long stretches under contruction , dust and gravel flying, & far more traffic. we wanted to tell the rental co. that the 'unpaved' roads prohibition would make travel impossible as they are everywhere! if you are hesitant to drive TOW, don't be, altho we confess good weather and recent late summer maintenance may have played a big role in making it such a breeze. we were blessed with recent rains that kept the dust down but had sufficiently dried to make puddles and mud a non-issue. even met a 70y.o. gentleman on a motorcycle (albeit a bmw GSA, one of the few bikes i'd do this trip on) on the yukon ferry who was right behind us, also no problems.