Dawson City, AK - Top of the World Highway

Chicken was one of our goals for the day but we needed to get to Dawson City where we were going to spend the next few days and we were only 1/2 way there. The connecting road is called the Top of the World Highway, known for its expansive views in every direction. a 360° view. All I could think of was the Carpenter’s old song:

        ‘I’m at the top of the world looking down on creation’

And, sure enough, the views were great:

The road didn’t improve, in fact, it got worse. Here is the description in the book 'Milepost', the Bible for Alaskan travel.

And, it follows up these words of warning with these:

Of course, signage helps too. Looks like a gravel road up ahead - for about 50 miles.

Believe this sign when you see it.

Looks like a small roller coaster.

But, here are the hardy souls. We saw several groups of bikers on this road.

Then we moved on - to the worst part of the road. Potholes so numerous in spots that Gary couldn’t go around them but had to choose which one to go through. Shoulders so soft that we could see where others had spun their tires getting around corners. A road so narrow that sometimes there were only 3 lanes.

Blind curves with no shoulders and a steep drop-off. Holy Cliffhanger, Batman, we’re on the outside of the curve. Don’t look down.

What a road. My teeth were chattering as much as our RV was rattling.

We finally hit the border. We’re leaving Alaska

Entering the Yukon.

And, the border stations. Oh, oh. What’s that on our windshield? Not in the forecast. Didn’t I read above in this blog that you should NEVER, EVER travel this road in the rain? It’s dangerous, slippery, the shoulders are soft and the drop-offs - whoo-eee. AND you won’t get the views that the road is known for.

Here’s our RV and car after we had driven those 50 miles. Can you see the car? Where are the headlights? Rear-view mirror? Ha, ha.

Our tow bar was caked in mud. How will we ever get this off unless we can wash it first? What if we have to unhitch the car to get across the river to Dawson City on the ferry? Unhitch this mud ball? Drive this mudball? (BTW, that’s a blue yoga mat covering the windshied to protect it from rocks.

The back of the Jeep was even worse.

Even our back-up camera got into the act. So muddy we couldn’t see out of this for schmatz.

Finally we were at the ferry to take us across to Dawson City, our goal for the day. We were in line, Gary ran out to ask if we had to unhitch and, when the guy said no, he ran back to get the RV onto the ferry.

Strike up the band. Whew. Easy ride, nice ferry and we were at the campground by 7:00. We have a back-in spot (one with another RV in back of it) but, she put us into a spot that had no one in back of it so we could pull-thru. We did this, ate dinner and then headed on over to the car wash to get in line. What a sprint.

The mud was easily 2” thick in the car wash but we stepped through it to get our RV as clean as we could. What a mess.

Would we recommend this road to anyone? NO - not in an RV. A car maybe. But, if you like your RV and want to keep it in one piece - this is not your road. Too much shake, rattle and roll. But - we met 2 caravans on the road, coming from the opposite direction. So, obviously, it’s popular with the caravans. Probably want to show people the ‘real Alaska.’

It’s now 8:30: time to unhook the Jeep, hook up the utilities, shower and hit the hay. It’s been a long day.