BEGIN AT THE AL-CAN BORDER:

Some Alaska road trippers travel to their starting point on the Alaska Marine Highway, a system of ships and car ferrys serving the many ports of coastal Alaska from as far away as Bellingham, Washington, bypassing the overland route altogether. All other travelers who drive their own vehicles to the last frontier come in from the Yukon: a scant handful use the Top of the World Highway out of Dawson City (open in summer only), while everyone else uses the Alaska Highway, and they cross over from Canada at the Alcan Port of Entry, just west of Beaver Creek. (For details on this route, click to see my recent post, The Alaska Highway: Day 4: Beaver Creek to Fairbanks.)

Monument to the end of the Alaska Highway, with some of the original equipment used during the construction. The Al-Can was a massive wartime defense project that has provided lasting peacetime benefits.

FAIRBANKS

Another hundred miles or so beyond Delta Junction, you’ll come to the first major stop on the Grand Circle: Fairbanks, Alaska’s second city. There are just under 33,000 residents, making it a small town by most standards, but in the sparsely populated interior of Alaska, it’s a booming metropolis. Founded by the banks of the Chena River during the height of the Klondike gold rush, Fairbanks will always be a frontier town at its core, no matter how many fast food franchises and national chain motels you might find there. It’s a lovely part of the world in summer, which is the only real tourist season. In winter, it’s one of the coldest, darkest places where humans actually live, and that tends to weed out the riff-raff. Those who can handle the winters are rewarded: Fairbanks is one of the best places anywhere to view the Aurora, filling the arctic sky with magical light.

WORLD ESKIMO INDIAN OLYMPICS

Every year in early July, the city of Fairbanks hosts a week-long series of events known as the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. These games are unique contests of strength and endurance that demonstrate the skills needed to survive in the harsh environment of the arctic, and draw contestants from all over Alaska. In addition to the sporting events, there are dances, beauty contests, and more. All in all, a fascinating celebration of Native Alaskan culture. 

Driving counter-clockwise around Alaska’s Grand Circle, the biggest thing on the whole route comes along about 120 miles south/southwest of Fairbanks. I’m talking about that 20,308 foot chunk of rock, earth, and ice known as Denali, formerly called Mt. McKinley, the biggest, tallest, and most definitely the baddest mountain in North America.

Denali is frequently obscured by clouds, especially in the summer, which is when most people visit. It’s so bad that only one visitor out of every three actually gets to see the mountain, at least, not the whole thing. 

The lucky visitors who catch this extraordinary mountain on a clear day are automatically qualified for membership in the “30% Club,” and they’ll even sell you a T-shirt attesting to your elite status.

When I went to Denali, I wanted to stack the odds in my favor, so I started checking the weather forecast well in advance. The weather service predicted predominantly cloudy skies and chance of rain every day but one, a Friday, which they claimed would be at least partly sunny. I was hoping for a window, and this was the best I was likely to get, so I delayed an extra day in Fairbanks, hoping that the modestly cheerful prediction would hold true.

There are a number of ways to explore Denali National Park, ranging from wilderness hiking to flightseeing excursions to mountaineering expeditions, but for most visitors, there’s really only one practical choice. With rare exceptions, the 92 mile long Denali Park Road that takes you to the park’s interior is closed to private vehicles beyond the Savage River Bridge, at Mile 15. To go deeper into the park, the only option is to book a seat on one of the tour buses that leave from the Visitor’s Center. There are half day and full day tours, with and without professional guides; it’s time and money very well spent.

Continuing along the Grand Circle from Denali National Park, you travel south on the Parks Highway, Interstate A-4. This is an excellent paved road built to Interstate Highway standards, so you’ll make short work of the distance. The next major stop along the circle is Anchorage, Alaska’s largest, some would say the state’s only real city, a mere 240 miles, or 4 to 5 hours of driving, from the biggest mountain in North America.

There’s nothing like a good road trip. Whether you’re flying solo or with your family, on a motorcycle or in an RV, across your state or across the country, the important thing is that you’re out there, away from your town, your work, your routine, meeting new people, seeing new sights, building the best kind of memories while living your life to the fullest.

Are you a veteran road tripper who loves grand vistas, or someone who’s never done it, but would love to try? Either way, you should consider making the Southwestern U.S. the scene of your own next adventure.