seattle to fairbanks (round trip)

[jcdriver]

I live in Florida and recently got a great deal on airline tix to Seattle. My plan is to rent in Seattle and drive to AK. Here's the catch: I am locked into my flight dates and I only have 3 weeks. I am also bringing my wife and two kids. Is it feasable to drive from Seattle to AK in 4 or 5 days one way? I would like to have a least 8-9 days in ak before having to turn around and come back. We are no strangers to long distance driving, but I understand that driving the northern highways is much different than driving interstates. By the way, I have looked into the ferry system for one way and the dates don't work for me.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I live in Florida and recently got a great deal on airline tix to Seattle. My plan is to rent in Seattle and drive to AK. Here's the catch: I am locked into my flight dates and I only have 3 weeks. I am also bringing my wife and two kids. Is it feasable to drive from Seattle to AK in 4 or 5 days one way? I would like to have a least 8-9 days in ak before having to turn around and come back. We are no strangers to long distance driving, but I understand that driving the northern highways is much different than driving interstates.

The first thing you need to consider is how mucy of a surcharge your car rental is going to be when when cross into Canada enroute to Alaska. As you know, the most direct route between Seattle and Fairbanks is about 2313 miles. Yes, it should be possible to cover that distance in 4-5 days, but when time of year is this adventure planned for?

As another first step, you need to get a hold of the current copy of The Milepost and read the construction notices posted along your route of travel to get an idea of the likely slower sections.

Hopefully, some of our Alaska-based posters will be contributing some ideas here soon.

Mark

[jcdriver]

We are leaving in mid-June. The rental agreement is for unlimited mileage and cars can be driven into Canada. I have purchased a copy of the milepost, and I am hoping for some suggestions as far as places to go and things to see on a fairly limited budget! Keeping in mind that I have 2 children ages 9 and 3 along for the trip.

[AK_Aaron]

you will also want to check on what type of roads the rental agreement allows you to drive on. There are many highways in Alaska that are gravel or alternating gravel/paved and people have gotten in trouble driving on those roads before. Then of course if they say you can't be driving on those type of roads, do you want to risk trying anyways? some do and come out fine, others do and get stuck or break down and get in a bit of trouble. It really depends on who you are renting from but you might want to know specifically what they are going to let you legally drive on.

The milepost is a must if you want to drive up from Seattle as well, it will provide you with invaluable information about the road and many places in-between. Unfortunatly i don't know about the time it takes to drive from Seattle to Alaska as i havn't done it myself, but the milepost will give you a good idea as to how long that will take.

Have fun in Alaska, and if you need any more information about Alaska, just ask!

[Bogart]

AK Aaron, I am driving south from Anchorage in a couple of months. Thread is here:

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum...ead.php?t=8336

Input would be appreciated.