One can drive from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and back in four days, but that is almost all road driving. Plan some extra time to take a hike, and encounter the area more than simply through your vehicle window. Illustration © www.AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com
Bull caribou in foggy winter weather on Finger mountain, with Finger rock in the background, Alaska.
Cow moose and twin calves feed on spring grasses, Arctic, Alaska.
Muskox along the Sagavanirktok river and the Franklin Bluffs on the Arctic Coastal Plains, Arctic, Alaska.
How Much Time to allocate?
Our guests often tell us that they have not planned enough time for traveling up the Dalton Highway. If they could do it over again, they would add an extra day or two to enjoy the area, spend more time out of their vehicle and enjoy a small hike or more roadside breaks.
Pink and purple blossoms of the Lapland rosebay and lupine blossom on the arctic tundra, Alaska.
While there is much to see from the car window, a slightly more intimate encounter with the Arctic wilderness will yield great rewards. A brief walk across the tundra will reveal vast carpets of wildflowers, and short hikes along a stream allow you to stretch the legs and view wildlife. Our guests repeatedly tell us that they regret not having more time to explore and enjoy the area.
For this reason, we suggest that you plan an extra day or so to enjoy the Brooks Range and Koyukuk River valley near Wiseman. This area offers great opportunities to relax and explore, go for a nature walk or hike, float the Koyukuk river, experience the aurora borealis, ski, snowshoe, etc.
We are happy to answer your questions, give suggestions/tips, and help plan your stay in the Arctic.
Dall sheep ewes graze on the tundra vegetation, decorated by ross avens, in the Brooks Range, Alaska.
Hiking in the Brooks Range, Arctic Alaska
Newly recolonized fireweed in summer bloom along the Dalton Highway, the result of a recent forest fire.
Our Travel suggestions
If you are driving a rental car, make sure they allow travel on the Dalton Highway. Check the weather road conditions before departing.
- Check road conditions before departing: Alaska Statewide Driving Conditions (Especially for winter travel).
Some sections of the James Dalton Highway are paved, and some areas are gravel. Be aware of changing road conditions.
- Check the extended weather forecast via the National Weather Service Forecast.
- The Alaska FAA Webcams offer a visual reference to weather in various locations around the state. The Yukon River Bridge, Coldfoot Airport, and Chandalar Shelf are relative webcams for the Dalton Highway area.
- The Dalton Highway was built to construct the pipeline and transport supplies north to Prudhoe Bay. Truckers still use the road. Generally, when meeting a semi-tractor trailer, slow down, put your right turn signal on and pull just slightly over. In response, they will generally slow down. This helps all the way around to minimize a chipped windshield from flying gravel.
- Make sure your car rental company allows travel on the Dalton Highway. A few companies are specializing in renting gravel roads:
- Fairbanks: Arctic Outfitters, Alaska Auto Rentals, Alaska 4×4 Vehicle Rentals, GoNorth (winter: GoNorth does not allow you to travel further than Wiseman)
- Anchorage: Alaska 4×4 Vehicle Rentals, A1 Car Rentals.
- Fly – Drive: Alaska 4×4 offers one-way rentals from Anchorage/Fairbanks to Deadhorse
- Another option might be to rent privately through turo.com.
- If you want to err on the safe side, you can add extra insurance with worldwideinsure.com.
- Bring food and water for the drive.
- Summer: bring mosquito repellent and warm clothes (June-August: record low 19F, record high 87F)
- Winter: bring lots of warm clothes! (November-March: record low -65F, record high 46F)
Rainbow over the Dalton highway, Arctic, Alaska.
Blowing snow on the Dalton Highway
Snow plow clears snow from the James Dalton Highway (Haul Road).
Food - Restaurants - Fuel
There are no restaurants in Wiseman, the nearest one is the truck stop in Coldfoot, 17 Miles south.
Coldfoot camp truck stop offers fuel along the James Dalton Highway.
There are no stores, services, or restaurants in Wiseman. Coldfoot truck stop has a cafe and fuel service. Plan and purchase food in Fairbanks. Our cabins have kitchenettes, and if you enjoy cooking, bring a few groceries with you.
Fuel and food along the way:
- Hilltop Truckstop (10 miles from Fairbanks) fuel and food (winter/summer)
- The Yukon River Camp (140 miles from Fairbanks) fuel and food (winter/summer)
- The Hot Spot Cafe (155 miles from Fairbanks) fuel and food (summer)
- Coldfoot Truckstop (260 miles from Fairbanks) fuel and food (winter/summer)
- Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse (500 miles from Fairbanks) fuel and food (winter/summer) For the summer traveler, keep in mind that the sun does not set in Prudhoe Bay from May 20th to July 22nd!
HIGHLIGHtS along the Dalton Highway
Cross the mighty Yukon River
Vistit the Arctic Circle Rest Area
Generally, the Dalton Highway conditions are good, but it is wise to check the road report during heavy rain or snow or road construction.
From Fairbanks, the Elliot Highway takes you about 73 miles north to the start of the Dalton Highway, traversing boreal forest hills of birch and aspen trees and tundra valleys of streams and small rivers. You will cross the mighty Yukon River and pass through the valley to Finger Mountain, a treeless high point with short walkways and kiosks to learn about the region’s geology and alpine tundra. The Arctic Circle turnout has bathrooms and a picnic area. A little further north takes you up and over Gobbler’s Knob and down into the Koyukuk river valley to the Coldfoot Truck Stop, 255 miles north of Fairbanks.
Our Log Cabin Bed and Breakfast is located in Wiseman, approximately 17 miles north of Coldfoot. This is nearly the halfway point to the Arctic Ocean. Our cabins are situated at the base of the Brooks Mountain Range. The grandest arctic scenery is ascribed to the region between Coldfoot and the Sagavanirktok River, about 140 miles to the North. Along this section, you pass over Alaska’s highest roadway summit, Atigun pass (4,800 feet) through the Brooks Range, 65 miles from Wiseman. You leave the boreal forest behind and enter the treeless regions of the high arctic. Watch for wolves, grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep. The undulating hills of the Arctic become apparent as you leave the mountains. Great vistas of high arctic tundra are found all the way to Prudhoe Bay. Watch for Muskox along the road from Happy Valley to the Franklin Bluffs.
Dalton Highway History
Built in the 1970s for the construction of the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. Designated a State Scenic Byway.
Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline crosses the Yukon River via the Dalton Highway, Interior, Alaska.
The only way to access the Arctic by vehicle is along the Elliot Highway and James Dalton Highway, the latter is a service road built in the1970s for the construction of the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. It was opened for public use in 1994 and is recognized as a State Scenic Byway for its spectacular scenery and wildlife. It’s a “long haul” all the way from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay, approximately 500 miles. The road itself is also called the Haul Road, mainly because trucks use it to haul supplies north to the oil fields. The conditions of the highway in general, are pretty good. Some sections are paved, but large sections remain gravel. Large amounts of rain can deteriorate road conditions but the Alaska Department of Transportation maintains the road consistently. Check the road conditions here.
Dalton Highway photo gallery
Dalton Highway photos copyright Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com
Trans Alaska oil pipeline along the James Dalton Highway, (Haul road) Alaska.
Trucker travels the Dalton highway as it winds out of Atigun canyon, the Trans Alaska oil pipeline adjacent to the raod.
Alaska pipeline and the Dalton highway near the village of Wiseman.
The aurora swirls over the dalton highway in Atigun Canyon, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska.
Truck on the James Dalton Highway, along the trans Alaska oil pipeline, green summer tundra, Brooks Range, Alaska.
Grizzly bear crosses the James Dalton Highway (Haul Road), Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline, Alaska's Arctic north slope.
James dalton highway (Haul Road) Atigun Canyon, Brooks Range, Alaska
The trans Alaska oil pipeline stretches across the snow covered tundra of Alaska's Arctic coastal plains, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska
Truck on the James Dalton Highway, mount Dillon in the distance, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska.
Gravel surface of the James Dalton Highway, commonly called the Haul Road, Trans Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska.
Aurora borealis over the south fork of the Koyukuk River, James Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska
Vehicle on a hill called Beaver Slide, after Finger Mountain of the James Dalton Highway, Interior, Alaska.
James Dalton Highway at the Chandalar Shelf, Arctic, Alaska.
Blowing snow across the James Dalton Highway near Finger Mountain, a notoriously winder area along the "Haul Road" that leads from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Semi tractor trailer travels the James Dalton Highway near toolik, Brooks Range mountains, Arctic, Alaska.
South fork of the Koyukuk River with frozen overflow. James Dalton Highway and the trans Alaska oil pipeline cross the river. Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska.
James Dalton Highway, commonly called the Haul Road, Trans Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska.
Muskox cross the James Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska.
Semi tractor trailer travels the James Dalton Highway (the Haul Road) with mt Sukakpak rising in the distance.
Semi trucks travel the sometimes perilous and hilly James Dalton Highway, Alaska.
James dalton highway cuts through the mountain regions of the Brooks Range, Alaska.
Caribou cross the James Dalton Highway in front of a trucker, Arctic, Alaska.
James Dalton Highway.
Atigun pass, Brooks Range, James Dalton Highway, Alaska.
The aurora borealis over the James Dalton Highway in the Brooks Range of Alaska.