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Driving
Times
Question: Drive and
train time Anchorage to Fairbanks or
Seward?
Question: How much time
should I allow from Homer to Denali?
Question: How long is
the drive from Fairbanks to Valdez?
Question: How long does
it take to drive to Alaska?
Question: Drive
and train time Anchorage to
Fairbanks or Seward?
Alaska
Railroad
schedules say it takes 12 hours to travel between Anchorage and Fairbanks and
nearly 4.5 hours
from Anchorage to
Seward. By our
standards in the flatlands of Michigan, this is
exceptionally
slow travel for trips of 358 and 127 miles, respectively.
My question: How long should I expect to make these same trips by car
on the
Parks and Seward highways? Thank you.
Answer:
Good
question. The
Alaska Railroad is the proverbial slow train, like 30-35 mph. The speed
limit
on the Parks
Highway is 65
(traffic is
often faster) and 55 on the Seward
Highway (which
can be
congested in the summer). You can easily make it from Anchorage to Fairbanks in 7
hours and Anchorage to
Seward in 2.5
hours. Also, you can rent a car or even fly for far less than the cost
of the
train fare. The train is really priced as a tourism outing, not as
transportation, and has fancy food, commentary, etc.
Question:
How much time should I allow from Homer to Denali?
Here is
my basic
itinerary:
Day 1 Arrive Anchorage (overnite Anchorage)
Day 2 Drive to Seward (overnite Seward)
Day 3 All day Kenai boat tour (overnite Seward)
Day 4 Drive to Homer (overnite Homer)
Day 5 One day fishing trip in Homer (overnite Homer)
Day 6 Drive from Homer to Talkeetna (overnite Talkeetna)
Day 7 Flightsee Denali from Talkeetna, drive to park main entrance,
take
shuttle into park (overnite Healy)
Day 8 Return to Anchorage, fly to Cordova, overnite Cordova
Day 9 Cordova (Childs glacier, etc)
Day 10 Fly back to Anchorage (overnite Anchorage)
Day 11 Fly home
I have two questions:
1. Do you think Day 6, driving from Homer to Talkeetna is too much for
one day?
2. Do you think that Day 7, the 'Denali Day' is too much crammed in for
one
day.
Answer:
The drive
Homer to
Talkeetna will be about seven hours. Doable. Traffic on these two-lane
roads
slows you down, especially around Memorial Day.
The
Denali day is
pretty intense. You'll be tired of
driving. The drive from Talkeetna to Denali will be
2 1/2 hours,
then you will have the bus ride of 8 hours or more. On the other hand,
I
wouldn't give up the flightseeing (if the weather is decent), and you
would
have to drop a destination to spend any more time at
Denali. Mt
McKinley is most
likely to be clear in the early AM.
Question: How
long is the drive from Fairbanks to Valdez?
My
husband and I will
be driving from Fairbanks to Copper Center via the Richardson highway
this
summer, and I was wondering how long the drive usually takes,
considering a few
stops along the way for photos and gas stops. I am assuming it will
take more
than a tank of gas for this leg of our trip.
Answer:
The drive
is about 260
miles, which you should be able to do in five hours on the road; two
hours for
stops would make the total seven hours. A tank of gas would make it in
most
cars, but just barely. There are gas stations in Delta Junction,
Paxson, and Glennallen.
Question:
How long does it take to drive to Alaska?
Answer:
A drive to Alaska is a great adventure,
but it
takes a long time. I wouldn't consider it with less than a month of
vacation to
justify all the time on the road. The driving distance from
Seattle to Anchorage is some 2,400 miles,
mostly on
two-lane roads of spotty quality. It's theoretically possible to do it
in two
or three days, but that wouldn't be my idea of a vacation. Allow five
days each
way. Some of the drive is spectacular, but many hours of it pass
tediously
through brush and trees. Of course, it's remote country, fit only for a
reliable vehicle and a prepared party. Pick up a copy of The Milepost,
published by Morris Communications, at a book store before going; it
gives
mile-by-mile driving instructions and advertising listings from every
motel and
greasy spoon on the way. A winter drive isn't advisable without
survival
equipment to keep you safe for a day in case of a breakdown in
temperatures of
-[minus] 40°F. Taking the
Alaska
Marine Highway ferries up the Inside Passage cuts the drive to a
more
reasonable length, and it's a great way to see some of Alaska's most beautiful
shores and
quaint towns that aren't connected by road to the outside world. But it
still
takes 72 hours to ride the ferry from
Bellingham, Washington, to Haines or Skagway, where you rejoin the
highway,
and for the same price as bringing your car on board you could rent a
car for
two weeks and leave your own car at home. (You can also start in
Prince Rupert, B.C., cutting the
ferry ride in
half; more sailings are available from Prince Rupert, too.) If possible,
plan a few
days in towns along the way on the ferry. Depending on your interests,
you can
stop off in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, or Juneau.
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