Fairbanks -> Anchorage or Anchorage -> Fairbanks?

[AJxr]

looking into a short tour in Alaska this summer. probing the internet and it looks like an awesome ride from anchorage to denali. looking at maybe starting in Fairbanks though and making a one way trip south to anchorage. is there a particular route I should look for? appears there is only one way 

the major question. south to north, or north to south? will probably go in mosquito time (june/july)

[janetanorth]

please check my FAQ bicycle touring in alaska at crazy guy on a bike, and then feel free to ask me specific questions.
cheers,
janet

[BrianW]

Topography-wise, it's pretty much the same either way. See an elevation chart of the Parks Hwy at http://www.myscenicdrives.com/drives/alaska/george-parks-highway#map (not to be confused with the Denali Park Road, which is a different thing altogether). Check out a copy of The Milepost, too, to get good, current info on the road (it's published yearly). http://www.milepost.com/highway_info/parks_highway

You'll have a LOT more traffic on the Anchorage-Denali section than from Fairbanks, not only en route to Denali, but also to some of the recreational lakes north of Wasilla. That being said, assuming you are flying into Anchorage, I'd probably say to start from there just to acclimate yourself slowly from urban to wilderness. I find it's usually more relaxing to start riding at your entry point rather than have to travel another day to start. (Well, you could fly into Fairbanks, but most folks don't.)

If the weather is clear, you'll also have the view of Denali pulling you on. Try to time your transit between Anchorage and north of Wasilla to non-weekend days to avoid extra traffic. Also, riding early or after 4:00 will let you avoid the bulk of the RV traffic. There are tons of rental RVs in Alaska and the drivers should be watched with extreme wariness.

North of Denali park the hwy has much more of a wilderness feel and less services. It's also only about 1/2 the distance from Denali to Fairbanks as it is from Anchorage to Denali. If you get to Denali and decide you want to stay longer for whatever reason, you'll have better options for getting back to Anchorage (train, shuttles, hitchhiking, etc.).

While Denali is understandably a strong pull, also consider riding the Glenn Hwy east from Anchorage. In my mind this is the prettiest highway in Alaska and goes through a lot of unspoiled areas. It has a lot of ups and downs, though, so beware of that. A great ride would be Anchorage to Glennallen on the Glenn, then the Richardson south to Valdez (another beautiful road, especially from Thompson Pass to Valdez). Then ferry, fly or shuttle back to Anchorage.

[AJxr]

Awesome awesome awesome info. We bought the tickets last Sunday. Flying into Fairbanks and flying out of anchorage. Extremely excited!

[BrianW]

If you have some time in Fairbanks, check out the museum at the Univ of Alaska. Worth a visit.

[big blue cat]

I did a trip in Alaska about 6 or 7 yrs. ago. what we did was fly into anchorage, train to whistler (I think), ferry to valdez. we went by were the valdez went aground. we started our trip in valdez, rode up to Fairbanks, took a couple of days off. went to denali for a couple of days. took a tour on a camp bus & saw lots of wildlife. mosqtoes were horrible. at the time road construction was going on north of anchorage. in hind sight I would of stop in telketna (sp) & trained into anchorage. it was a great trip & would do it again. I think the trip was about 650 miles. I was effected a little by the daylight. good thing about this is if you get behind in your schedule you can ride at 2 a.m. I would use lights just to be visible.
have a good trip
scott