First Things First

• Both Canadians and Americans - you will both be crossing borders so have your passports.


• A GPS unit is worth every penny AND a good map book for the overall picture. Map books do not show northern Canada but maps are available at visitor centers.


• A Good Sam membership gives a 10% discount at most campsites and you get online access to trip planners.


• For US travellers, to figure out fuel pricing, a litre is roughly a US quart. To get gallon pricing multiply by 4. (If you want to be exact 3.78), but a good rule of thumb is X4.
• The best months to go are July/August as the bugs are less and road conditions better.

Everyone should do this at least once in their lifetime. We saw hundreds of RV's from as far as Florida. (and Europe). There was no shortage of RV's. People do not let the fuel prices bother them. If you have budgeted $1000.00 for fuel, the expense is now $1300.00, just a part of a trip of a lifetime.

For western US travellers, go north on I-5 to Bellingham Exit 539 and go north on Guide Meridian to the Canada Border (Aldergrove). This crossong is not open at night. Sumas is a 24 hour crossing. After crossing into Canada, go to Hwy 1 east. Click on map below to make larger.

For Eastern travellers, set your GPS to go to Dawson Creek, BC.
For the stops on this blog, we tried to go a tank of fuel for the stops (425 km/300mi). When we were returning we drove longer days.

A good stop is 100 Mile House, about 400 km (250 mi) from the border crossing. They have several gas stations. They have a good Tourist Info Center on the main highway with maps and driving info. A good RV site is Cariboo Bonanza Resort at Horse Lake, just east of 100 Mile House. We stayed for 2 nights as it is relaxing being right at the water. They also have Wif-fi and cable TV so you can get caught up on those emails.

North of 100 Mile House is Quesnel. An RV site recommended to us by other travelers is Roberts Roost (ask for site 30). A good side trip is Barkerville.

Barkerville is an old gold rush town that has been redone with working displays. Wells is just before Barkerville with 2 RV sites. Caution, the closest place for diesel is Quesnel. The local gas station has gasoline.

Next stop is Dawson Creek, 520 km (325 mi) from Quesnel. Make sure you fuel up in Prince George as there is nothing until Chetwynd. If possible don’t get fuel in Chetwynd as Dawson Creek is way less for fuel.

In town is the actual marker for Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. Mile 0 Campground is the place to stay. They are Good Sam and have Wi-fi.

Next is Fort Nelson. Top up your tank if needed in Fort St. John, as Fort Nelson is 450 km (280 mi) from Dawson Creek. The RV site is Bluebell Inn & RV Park. Doesn’t look like much but clean and good as it gets up here. Good Sam park and they give a discount on fuel if you stay here.

On the return trip you must turn off before Fort St. John and go to Huson Hope for a tour of the dam. They take you right into the belly of the dam.

North of Fort Nelson is where you really start to see wildlife. Here is a herd of Bison meandering around the highway. Toad River Post is a nice stop. If interested in buying an animal pelt, stop here on the return trip. They will do the US Customs form if you are from the US. There is gas and diesel available here if needed.

Here are caribou at the side of the road.

Sheep also own the road. The lodge at the north end of Muncho lake also has fuel.

The next stop after Fort Nelson is Liard River Hotsprings. 310km (190 mi). Definately worth the stop. The hot springs are natural. There is dry camping at the hot springs or hookups across the road behind the gas station and a place to fuel up.

Watson Lake is a stop for food and fuel if needed. There is a Sign Post Park with hundreds of city sign from all over the world, that was started by a lonely soldier putting up a sign for his hometown.

Teslin is 469 km (295 mi) from Liard Hotsprings. There is a museum on the right that had taxidermy animals on display with good information about them. Very informative. The museum also has a campground and fuel. A helicopter landed in one site and stayed the night.

Whitehorse has a lot of things to see and do. There is the original paddle wheeler in town with a good movie and tours. There is a fish ladder with interpretation center.

Frantic Follies is a great show to see after dinner.

From Whitehorse you will have a choice which way to go. Dawson City is a must see. Your goal is to get to Tok Alaska. The highway from Whitehorse going west is terrible west of Burwash. There is 100 km (60 mi) of frost heaves on the highway. We met several people with damage to their RV’s from the road. One had his suspension bracket break. We has some hitch damage from the constant heaving up and down. I have mapped out going north from Whitehorse to Dawson City, to Chicken AK and down to Tok, then down to Glennallen, Anchorage and Seward.

Dawson City is a unique town in that it is an old gold rush town which is not a museum town but a thriving city. There are excellent restaurants. There is an RV park just south of town and one right in town. An interesting note is they had electricity before New York City.

This is a view of Dawson City from the Top of the World Highway. Dawson City has fuel. (the most expensive on the whole trip).

There are plenty of opportunities for panning for gold.

One tour you can’t miss is the gold dredge south of town.

This is a picture from space to show how large of an area a dredge worked. It would make it’s own trail by digging the streams. This picture is probably 20 miles across.

This is the Top of the World Highway to Chicken. It is mostly paved with some gravel sections. In Dawson City we checked with a tour bus fueling up and the driver told us the highway was in excellent shape.

Chicken has an RV site with gold panning available. There is also a tour of the old ghost town every morning. Chicken also has fuel. The next stop is Tok. Tok has a restaurant called Fast Eddies which was good. Also several RV parks, fuel and an info center.

From Tok you want to go down to Glennallen, then west to Palmer. The scenery in this stretch is spectacular. Glennallen is a good place to fuel up.

Glaciers can be seen from the highway.

Even machinery working on the many stretches of the highway repairs look spectacular against the scenery backdrop. Palmer is a good spot to spend the night and fuel up. There's an RV site athe the very west end of town, just before the junction of highways 3 and 1.

Fairbanks is difficult to maneuver. The highway is closed and detoured, as they are rebuilding it and making a bypass. The detour route is crowded and hard to follow with an RV. The best way is to take Muldoon to the south. It automatically curves west into East Tudor. This route is very RV friendly with 4 lanes, restaurants and gas stations. Just follow E. Tudor until it reaches Hwy 1 and head south toward Seward. I got this route from a local resident. Click on map to enlarge and print out.

In Seward the camping is right on the waterfront. It is owned by the city as they took over the land after a tsunami in the early 60's. They have power for about half the sites. The dump station is across the road. From here you could walk or cycle to town. There is a lot to see and do here. The restaurants have fresh fish right off the boats.

There are numerous trips to take from Seward as your base. There is a dog sled team that practices in summer with wheeled sleds and takes you on rides.

Kenai Tours has several cruise ships that leave from Seward. We went on a dinner cruise to get a close up view of a glacier. The ship hugged the coast to give bird watchers good views of the birds like puffins. Also seen are sea lions and porposes.

You can get right up to the Exit Glacier.

From Seward you can go to Homer and Wittier.

Depending on your time, you can return going up through Fairbanks and back to Tok. We did not have the time and headed straight back to Palmer and Tok.

Make sure you stop at Hudsons Hope at Fort St. John on your return.

Maps by Microsoft Streets and Trips.