Alaska's highways are legendary for the beautiful country they cross. Sometimes they're a legend just for being built.
Roads off Alaska's beaten path
Some of Alaska's notable "back" roads are not numbered state highways. These include roads into Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias national parks and scenic roads often known only to state residents.
These roads lead into scenic areas where wildlife and fish may be abundant. Hiking and camping are often allowed, and lodging of some sort probably is available.
Some of these roads are paved, but others are rough and require high clearance or four-wheel drive. Services such as gas stations and tire repair may not be handy, but local color will be. Some rental-car agencies discourage their customers from driving on the Dalton, Denali and other gravel highways.
The emergency number is 911, although phone service may be spotty (including cellphones).
The Alaska Highway, for example, was blasted through the Canadian and Alaska wilderness in 1942. This wartime highway quickly became Alaska's commercial and social lifeline.
And then there are these scenic examples:
• The Dalton Highway roars through arctic valleys and plains.
• The Glenn Highway navigates the Matanuska River Valley. (Expect nighttime road closures for construction through 2004 near Mile 107, west of Eureka.)
• The Seward Highway traces the shore of Turnagain Arm.
• The Parks Highway slips through the Alaska Range and passes Denali National Park.
• The Richardson Highway crosses snowy Thompson Pass and cuts through Keystone Canyon near Valdez.
• The Steese Highway rattles through gold fields and treeless tundra on its way to the Yukon River.
This is Road Alaska, a few thin strips of asphalt and gravel that hold together the largest state's population centers. (Road map of Alaska.) Alaska.com has a list of numbered highways and their attractions, as well as coverage of back roads that lead into beautiful country rarely seen by tourists in a hurry.
The high-volume highways are paved. The remainder are gravel. Winter travel is prohibited on some roads because of deep snow and the high cost of rescuing the unwise and unfortunate, but almost all roads are open by mid-May. Gasoline and diesel fuel are readily available, and service stations are rarely more than 40 or 50 miles apart even in the least settled country in-state and along the Alaska Highway.
Speed limits in some rural areas may be 65 mph, but drivers are warned that frost heaves and moose pose serious hazards. There may not be guardrails where drivers from out of state might expect them. Although most paved roads have wide shoulders, there are also stretches were shoulders are narrow or nonexistent. Winter driving -- between October and April, depending on the location -- brings its own hazards of ice, snow and wind although the state Department of Transportation does a pretty good job of clearing the roads.
The emergency number is 911, although phone service may be spotty (including cellphones).
Occasionally, traffic may be delayed by high winds and heavy rain (April through September) or by snow (September through mid-April) -- or rockslides or avalanches. Because detours are rarely possible, travelers should also be prepared to wait out delays if an accident or natural event blocks a road for several hours.
Although the most important highways have numbers -- for example, the Alaska Highway is Highway 2 -- Alaskans almost never mention the numbers and may not even know them. To an Alaskan, the road between Anchorage and Seward isn't Highways 1 and 9; it's the Seward Highway.
