Denali Highway : condition

[vikas_sethi]

Hi :

 

I am planning to drive thru Denali Highway, however, I heard

that the road is not maintained properly and rental co's don't

permit driving there ... no auto-insurance/credit-card-insuarnce

wud allow that ?

 

Is this true ?

 

How bad is the denali-highway-road any how ?

 

Any input will be highly appreciated ?

 

Thanx

[jimstrutz]

I don't know if they permit it or not, but I've seen plenty of RVs and rental cars coming and going on the Denali.

 

The State does maintain the Denali Hwy in the summer months, but it is still a dirt road, and gets less attention since it's no longer the only access to the park. It's been way to many years since I last drove it though, so someone else will have to speak to that.

[ligia_dovale]

You could call the Alaska department of transportation and find out about the road condition. Sorry, I did not keep this telephone number after I drove through it last July. If you drive slowly, it should be fine, it is just a dirt road for the most part of it. It is advisable to get the Mile Post when you drive in Alaska, great information about every turn of the road.

[daver1]

It's true that rental car companies in Alaska specifically prohibit the driving of their vehicles "off road", which in their definition, includes most dirt roads. Some old dirt roads in Alaska are just old railroad grades that still have old spikes under the dirt, so the danger is real. (Denali's road is not one of them) Basically, if you take the car off the pavement and there's a problem, you're going to pay for it yourself. That being said, the likelihood of you having a problem is probably not huge...I had a rental car for a year in Anchorage (for a business trip) that I took over to Wrangell St Elias, driving to Kennicott, and had no issues. Your mileage may vary... :)

<p/>

-Dave

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<a href="http://www.coyoteimages.com">Coyote Images</a>

[john lehman, college alask]

As of mid September last year, there were sections where you would not want to go over 20 mph, but nothing a carefully-driven 2 wheel drive couldn't manage. However, things like rock damage from passing trucks can be expensive, and as mentioned above, rental car contracts prohibit driving on unpaved roads (not just "off road"), so you get to pay for any damage.

 

The State grades the road once a year, usually in early June.

[douglas_greenberg]

I haven't driven the road for years, but when I did (in an old Volkswagen beetle) the road was graded dirt on the Canadian portion and paved-with-potholes-and-cracks on the U.S. side. There are crews out all summer regrading the Canadian portion, as rain and vehicle pounding produce washboarding very quickly. The paved portion is problematic because of frost heave, which constantly creates cracks and unevenness on the road.

 

As others have written, many rental companies simply forbid drivers to traverse dirt roads. If you happen to come across a stretch of same nothing is likely to occur, but the Alaska Highway is many hundreds of miles of dirt road, and the rental car company is a lot more likely to know that one has "violated the rules."

[Wayne Melia]

From the 2003 edition of <U>the Milepost</U> ( www.themilepost.com ):<br>

The Denali highway runs 134 mile between Paxson and Cantwell and is 85% gravel and 15% paved. The condition of the gravel portion varies dpending on the maintenance, weather, and driver's opinion.<br><br>

Sounds like any info has to immediate from local sources to be relevant.<br>

BTW, Douglas Greenburg's comments seem to be about the Alaska Highway running from Dawson Creek, BC, Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, USA; not about the Denali Highway. The Alaska Highway is paved end to end (with possible temporary detours for local construction).

[douglas_greenberg]

"BTW, Douglas Greenberg's comments seem to be about the Alaska Highway running from Dawson Creek, BC, Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, USA; not about the Denali Highway. The Alaska Highway is paved end to end (with possible temporary detours for local construction)."

 

Whoops, sorry. "Never mind."

 

And I guess I'm showing my age by showing that the last time I drove the Alaska Highway it was unpaved on the Canadian portion, i.e., most of the way. The Canadians' rationale for not paving it those many years was, by the way, the problems associated with frost heave.

[micheal_kelly]

If you decide to drive on the Denali, or any other dirt road in Alaska, note that windshield damage comes from you driving into a rock kicked up from behind a truck going in the opposite direction. So if you slow down or even pull over and stop while a big truck passes going the opposite direction you will reduce or eliminate getting rock chips in the windshield.

 

The Denail Highway is a great way to see a "wilder" Alaska that you might not see from other more beaten paths. But there are few services so be prepared to take care of yourself.

[gone nomad]

My Subaru did fine about five years ago. However, it didn't make it back to my home in San Diego afterwards. I lost a CV joint in Whitehorse Yukon coming home after the summer in Alaska. Traded the car for a steak dinner and a shower to a guy from Skagway and hitchhiked the rest of the way home.

 

Oh the car had like 160,000 miles on it when I left San Diego. I barely managed to make it back to my first day of classes at SDSU. Damn, I wish I was a college student again!