| SR-8 | |||
| Get started | cantwell | ||
| End | Paxson | ||
| Length | 135 mi | ||
| Length | 217 km | ||
|
|||
State Route 8, more commonly known as the Denali Highway, is a state route in the U.S. state of Alaska. The road forms an east-west connection in the interior of Alaska, between Cantwell and Paxson. The road is 217 kilometers long.
- COLLEGESANDUNIVERSITIESINUSA: Lists 4-year public and private colleges and universities in Alaska.
Travel directions
The Denali Highway forms an east-west connection, joining State Route 3 in the west at Cantwell and State Route 4 in the east at Paxson. The road is largely a gravel road and leads through uninhabited wilderness, except for the start and end point there are no places on the route. The road traverses the promontory of the Alaska Range, which lies to the north. In good weather you have a view to the southwest of the 6,168 meter high Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). In good weather, you have a view of several mountain ranges of southern Alaska, including the Chugach Mountains and the Wrangell Range. The road runs over the 1,245 meter high Maclaren Summit. At this point it is Alaska’s second highest road.
- ANSWERMBA: Provides information about Alaska overview.
History
The Denali Highway.
The road was built in 1957 as the first connection to Denali National Park. Traffic between Anchorage and Fairbanks then went through Paxson, as State Route 3 through Cantwell was not completed until 1971.
The road is in poor condition and melt water washes are common. But small parts of the route are paved, especially the eastern part. The road is closed in the long winter.
Traffic intensities
Between 60 and 200 vehicles drive daily on the Denali Highway, mainly tourists.
Klondike Highway
| Highway 2 | |||
| Get started | Skagway, AK | ||
| End | Dawson City, YT | ||
| Length | 705 km | ||
|
|||
The Klondike Highway is a highway in the US state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia and Yukon. The route runs from Skagway in Alaska via Whitehorse to Dawson City and is 705 kilometers long.
Travel directions
Alaska
See also State Route 98 in Alaska.
The Klondike Highway begins in the coastal town of Skagway, in the fjord region of southeast Alaska, 130 kilometers north of the capital Juneau. The scenery is extremely spectacular in this region, with snow-capped mountains and deep valleys with fjords. The Klondike Highway runs just 12 miles through Alaska.
British Columbia
The route in British Columbia is also not very long at 60 kilometers. The route runs through mountainous area with many lakes. There are no places of interest on the route in British Columbia.
Yukon
Most of the Klondike Highway passes through Yukon. The road heads north to Whitehorse, about 60 miles north of the British Columbia border. Around Whitehorse, the road joins the Alaska Highway. North of Whitehorse, the Klondike Highway runs through a lonely area of tundra and taiga. The mountains are much lower here. The road runs along the Yukon River for a while, but not the entire route in the middle of Yukon. The Klondike Highway ends in the town of Dawson City, located on the Yukon River.
road numbers
The Klondike Highway is numbered as follows;
- Alaska: Highway 98
- British Columbia: Highway 2
- Yukon: Highway 2
History
The section south of Whitehorse in Yukon was part of the Alaska Highway, opened in 1942, between Carcross and Whitehorse. This section of the Alaska Highway was later diverted to the east. Construction of the road between Skagway and Carcross began in the 1950s, but the road was not put into service until 1978. The road was upgraded in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the mining industry.
The road from Whitehorse to Dawson City was constructed in two phases. In 1955 the section between Mayo and Dawson City opened and in 1960 the last sections between Whitehorse and Mayo opened. The route was largely a gravel road until the late 1970s, but parts were asphalted from the 1980s.
