Dalton Highway (Fairbanks to Prudhoe) July 2022

[IndySmithie]

Has anyone ridden the Dalton Highway recently? I have been reading alot about it. Sounds tough but spectacular. Tires? Truck Traffic? Tough on the Ten?

 

[eemsreno]

It has to be one of my all-time favorite roads!

Have you read this?
The Lure of the Dalton | Adventure Rider (advrider.com)

 

[Panman]

They say the best weather is June, made it over Atigun pass but turned around do to us knowing that it was 32 degrees, snowing and a 19 degree chill factor.
Get a good set of 50/50 tires, 6,700 miles and my Heidenau's were pretty much done but made the round trip.


Do ride to Dawson City, Yukon and then ride the Top of the world Hwy.
Miles and Miles of this kinda stuff.

Picture sez it all.

Being the light weights we are we only slept on the ground three or four times as my 66 year old well used body really needs a bed. Flying by the seat of our pants so to speak you really need to bring gear.

In Denali we had a Moma and baby come thru our camp.

Just do it!

 

[OldRider]

The Dalton is a fun road to ride. Plenty of animals and great scenery. You just have pay attention to the road surface and how it changes. A lot of the road will be flat, hard packed and smooth. You will be able to ride for miles at 50-60mph. Parts of the road will be covered in pot holes, just slow down and pay attention. If it's raining, pay a lot of attention. Fairbanks to Deadhorse took us 13 hours and the return trip was 11 hours. Make sure to go see the Artic Ocean. When we went, we had to make reservations a day in advance and pass their security check. Check and make sure what the current rules are. You can't ride out to the ocean, they take you out to see it on a bus. Place is very secure.

 

[magic]

There are many threads about the Dalton on this forum and advrider. There are also many utube videos. I made the trip there in 2016, solo. Here are a few bits of advice: The trucks ALWAYS have the right of way. When you meet one, pull over as far as you can and stop if you have to. Watch out for the soft shoulders when you do this. If you slow down and move over most truck drivers will also slow down to avoid showering you with rocks. You will need to carry extra fuel. Never pass up a chance to fill up. Be prepared to deal with more mosquitos than you ever thought possible. You will encounter road construction. They scrape the road with graders and fill in the potholes. This creates lots of loose gravel so beware. I usually took a break and let the trucks pass first so they could pack it down.

Read through the threads and watch some videos. Many of your question will be answered. Check out Adventure Cycleworks near Fairbanks for current info on road conditions, tires and repairs.

Adventure Cycleworks

Let me paint you a picture. It’s 6:15pm and I’m on the way back down the Haul Road after reaching the top of Alaska. Stopping for the rare opportunity to fill up my gas tank, I noticed …

www.bike-urious.com

Home

As of 1 September 2023, ADV Cycleworks is permanently closed. Thanks for including us in all your adventures over the years!

www.advcycleworks.com

 

[Lonslo]

Has anyone ridden the Dalton Highway recently? I have been reading alot about it. Sounds tough but spectacular. Tires? Truck Traffic? Tough on the Ten?

A friend and I are planning to make the trip late June and early July. I have always ridden harleys but bought the s10 just for this ride. The way things are in Canadaistan at the moment dont know if it will even be possible to get to AK. Lonslo

 

[gv550]

At this point in time, fully vaccinated USA residents are allowed into Canada. Covid test is required.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . You can't ride out to the ocean, they take you out to see it on a bus. Place is very secure.

Why? Your own safety? 'Cuz you're not gonna steal it or damage it.

 

[Panman]

Why? Your own safety? 'Cuz you're not gonna steal it or damage it.

The way to the ocean is thru Prudhoe Oil Pipe Line Project. If we would have had the weather I would have liked to take the tour.

Copied from the net;
Can you drive to the ocean at Prudhoe Bay?


At Prudhoe you will NOT be able to drive to the Arctic Ocean. The roads are private and controlled by guards. This is one trip where I would say getting there is all the fun! Being there is nothing special, it is an oil camp.

 

[tntmo]

Riding up to the Arctic Ocean is why I chose to ride the Dempster Highway rather than the Dalton. Getting to Tuktoyaktuk on the first year the road was officially open was really cool as well, I imagine that it has changed a bit since then. We were able to just camp right on the end of the road next to the ocean.

 

[Dons 1911]

Do you know if you can still ride all the way to the ocean on the Dempster?

 

[trimannn]

I went in July 2019 and you could. The way towns laided out I'm pretty sure you still can.

 

[OldRider]

We got lucky and saw some Musk Ox. I don't know, but we were told it's fairly rare to get to see one. They were North of Atigun Pass.

 

[Cycledude]

We got lucky and saw some Musk Ox. I don't know, but we were told it's fairly rare to get to see one. They were North of Atigun Pass.

View attachment 88773View attachment 88774

We also saw Musk Ox north of Atigun Pass getting ready to cross the road , there were about a dozen of them but it was raining and so slippery we didn’t stop to take pictures, thought we might get lucky and see them on our return trip but that never happened because it snowed 6” overnight so we wound up shipping our bikes back to Fairbanks with Carlyle trucking while we did the airplane thing.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Isn't the security thing to protect you from Polar Bears? I don't think I'd camp along that coast.