8 of the most epic road trips in Alaska

25.03.2024 - 23:29 / lonelyplanet.com

In a land of mind-boggling wilderness, rugged roadside pit stops and some of the world's most impressive big fauna, Alaska’s epic highways offer unlimited possibilities for adventurous drivers.

While road trips in the rest of the US are dotted with regular gas stations and kitschy curbside attractions, Alaskan highways appeal to a more intrepid wilderness connoisseur. Welcome to a state where most of the jaywalkers are moose and road signs are sometimes used for target practice. If you’re driving here, bring (or rent) a sturdy vehicle, make sure you know how to change a tire and stock up on food, playlists and emergency supplies. Here's our pick of the best road trips this stunning state has to offer.

Best road trip for an introduction to Alaska
Anchorage–Seward; 127 miles

If you’re new to the state, hone your Alaskan driving skills on this relatively easygoing route from Anchorage to Seward on the well-trafficked Kenai Peninsula. Heading south out of Alaska’s main metro area, the first section contours the placid shores of Turnagain Arm, a waterway shielded by 5000ft peaks and lapped by the largest tides in the US.  

Consider a detour to the Cold War anachronism of Whittier from milepost 79, a "town" where 90% of the population lives in the same high-rise. Luring the curious is an esoteric museum, a breezy harbor and the incongruous Buckner Building ruins. Whittier is accessed via a 2.7-mile-long single-lane tunnel that alternates directional flow every 30 minutes.

Back on the Seward Highway, the scenery ups the stakes as you enter the Kenai Peninsula with a spread of lakes, mountains and glaciers straight out of a glossy magazine. Regular pull-offs serve as trailheads and photo opportunities.

Detour: At the journey’s end, Seward is still only the beginning if you’re planning a visit to adjacent Kenai Fjords National Park, a paradise for blue-water kayakers and an easy access point for the drive-up Exit Glacier, considered an important barometer of climate change.

Best road trip for lonely roads
Tok–Dawson City; 186 miles

This desolate, undulating highway s is one of America’s most northerly roads, crossing into Canada at a seasonal border post (open May to September) in splendid isolation. The only sign of human life en route is the pin-prick gold mining settlement of Chicken, population seven, so named because its founding fathers couldn’t work out how to spell the local bird, ptarmigan. In a grizzly clapboard Chicken Creek Cafe, Saloon & Mercantile Emporium, you’ll find the best cinnamon buns north of the 60th parallel.

Wild and tough on the tires, this gritty ribbon of asphalt and gravel is only partially paved, and its bereft of major services. For a real "sourdough" (old-timer) experience, buy a gold