RV Trip Of A Lifetime To Alaska

by Laura Weaver

One of our most memorable motorhome trips was traveling to Alaska. This trip was also one of our first experiences in RVing. Each day of travel brought sights we had never seen before…breathtakingly beautiful landscape, wildlife in their natural habitat, and the realization that we courageously faced what we dubbed “The Trip of a Lifetime”.

Like most who drive to Alaska, we traveled the Alaskan Highway, picking it up at Mile Marker 0 in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. From there, we crossed into the Yukon Territory and chose to take the Klondike Highway to Top of the World Highway into Alaska.

We had heard so much about Top of the World Highway, a 65-mile road leading to the Alaskan border, prior to our trip that we were determined to drive it, even in our motorhome! It promised to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we didn’t want to miss. Believe me, it did not disappoint us. It was everything and more than we expected.

Top of the World Highway is only open during the daytime. It would be treacherous to try to drive it after dark. It is also highly recommended not to drive it during wet conditions. Because of these warnings, we decided to spend the night at a campground in Dawson City. It was there that we learned that we needed to fill our motorhome up with gasoline because there would be no more available for over 100 miles.

The Klondike Highway, which we picked up in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory suddenly and abruptly stopped at the Yukon River in Dawson City. The only way to continue on our journey was to cross the high and swiftly-flowing Yukon River via a small ferry. We nervously drove our motorhome onto the ferry’s deck, pulling all the way up to the bow. At 35-feet long, the ferry was able to just barely accommodate our motorhome. As we sat inside our motorhome, we watched the ferry captain maneuver through a water obstacle course of sorts, avoiding floating trees and debris. It was a nerve-racking 10-minute ride, but we arrived safely on the other side.

We entered Top of the World Highway immediately upon disembarking. It was a steep, slippery 8.5 mile climb up. The pavement had lots of gravel breaks. In fact, 95% of the roadway was dirt, dust, gravel, rocks, and erosions. It was a very narrow, winding road consisting of many hairpin curves, dips, and twists winding along the mountain tops. Think roller-coaster. There were no guardrails and I could see gravel falling down the mountainside behind us through my passenger- side mirror.


We were surprised to see that people actually lived on this highway, back in the thick brush and among the towering pines. We saw worn canvas tents along creek beds and campfire smoke rising nearby. Hand-painted signs were erected, staking their “claims”, panning for gold, and warning trespassers to stay off their property.

Related articles:

• 26,000-Year-Old Yukon Horse Exhibit Opens at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre (newswire.ca)
• Big Game in the Yukon (timesunion.com)