Alaska Off The Beaten Path Tips by PA2AKgirl Top 5 Page for this destination

to the arctic circle and beyond

The Dalton Highway, known as “The Haul” or “The Long Haul” is considered the last great highway. I suppose this depends on your idea of great highways. This one is the most desolate of all highways, certainly in Alaska & that is a high standard to have as most of our roads are desolate. It’s technically Alaska route 11, runs 414 miles north of Livengood to Deadhorse up near the Arctic Ocean. Very few sections are paved and parts of the road are in terrible condition. It’s mainly used as a way to get supplies up to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay but almost the entire thing is pure wilderness. For 240 miles, there are no services whatsoever so bringing your own gasoline, spare tires and tools to fix your car are a must. Plus food and something to sleep in, on or with. Once you get to Deadhorse, you cannot go to the Arctic Ocean by yourself—you have to arrange a tour to get out there. While on this road, it’s important to remember that truckers have the right of way, so you have to let them pass.

There are many good & bad things about this road. Because it’s so difficult, private vehicle don’t take it very often. It’s impossible to go fast, it’s not built up at all, you cross the Arctic Circle & who knows what adventures you can have while taking this road. You need to have a lot of time and until recently, a lot faith in your own vehicle and the others on it. I say this because it’s likely rocks will crack the glass or cause other damage. You might have car trouble and you have to be able to fix it yourself or hope someone can help you. Now, there’s a place in Fairbanks that allows you to rent vehicles outfitted to make this trip and a couple other rental companies as well. We took a test drive on this road and because it was April, there wasn't much traffic at all. No gas at the 2 gas stations at mile 60 either. But after doing this, we probably will try to use our own car. The cost of the rental doesn't cover cracked glass or any other damage and our insurance does.