Alaska Road & Highway Maps

Beyond the glaciers, the magnificent waterways, and abundant sea life lies an Alaska even more rugged, more remote, and more personal. It’s Alaska on the road – the open road.

Alaska’s rugged network of highways beckons travelers into its heart. Unlike any road trip in the lower 48 states, you’ll journey into a wilderness that completely surrounds you on all sides. Rabbits, foxes, eagles, and other wildlife appear before you then fade into the landscape. Moose browse alongside creeks. Bears forage in the distant hills. Scene after scene unfolds as a movie projected onto your windshield.

Driving in Alaska is not about getting from point A to B, it’s about experiencing what’s in-between. Our best advice is simple: Take your time. Let your attention – and the steering wheel – wander.

Explore side roads that often lead to rivers where you can pull out collapsible chairs, write in your journal, contemplate the music of the river, or even have a campfire. Other roads lure you into small towns where the pace of daily life slows dramatically, especially in summer, a timeless period when light lingers pretty much around the clock. Take this opportunity to meet local characters, hear their stories and learn how the Alaskan wilderness fuels their imaginations and lives.

In Alaska, the adventure happens while you’re getting there. Step into the car and back in time, and enjoy the freedom, adventure, escape, and even self reflection offered by driving Alaska’s open roads.

Highway Guides

Connecting you to Alaska's top destinations

Eight signs will guide you through the Cop­per Riv­er water­shed land­scape. See if you can vis­it all eight signs on your tour through this upriv­er basin formed by the ancient, glacial Lake Atna!

The dri­ve from Anchor­age to the sea­side com­mu­ni­ty of Seward begins with two hours of spec­tac­u­lar views as you pass between the dra­mat­ic shore­lines of Tur­na­gain Arm and the jut­ting peaks of the Chugach Mountains.

Fair­banks, Alaska’s sec­ond-largest city, is a for­mer gold-rush town with a cut­ting-edge uni­ver­si­ty-and it still holds onto its fierce­ly inde­pen­dent roots. Tour old gold mines, take a his­toric river­boat cruise, or just wan­der around downtown.

The dri­ve from Anchor­age to Valdez takes 6 to 7 hours on aver­age. But, there are many scenic vis­tas and unique places to stop along the way mak­ing it easy to spend more than 6 hours on the road. You will have views of sev­er­al moun­tain ranges, glac­i­ers, and more.

This north­ern­most sec­tion of the Parks High­way, paved and open all year, takes you through small towns and stretch­es of wilderness.

This dri­ve fol­lows the 368 mile Richard­son high­way from Valdez to Fair­banks, and takes approx­i­mate­ly 7.58 hours to com­plete. Even though the trav­el time is an invest­ment, like most Alaskan high­ways, the views are incred­i­bly rewarding.

It’s a 5‑hour dri­ve up to the park from Anchor­age, and you’ll find a num­ber of scenic high­lights and activ­i­ties along the way

Just two hours north from Anchor­age, Tal­keet­na is a town with authen­tic pio­neer feel and mod­ern tours and lodg­ing facil­i­ties. It’s the per­fect stop en-route to Denali, or as a day dri­ve from Anchor­age. Top excur­sions include raft­ing, jet boat tours, and flight­see­ing tours of Mt. Denali.

The dri­ve to McCarthy and Ken­ni­cott isn’t your run-of-the-mill road trip. It’s 7 – 8 hours from Anchor­age, with the last 61 miles-between Chiti­na and the Ken­ni­cott Riv­er-on an his­toric, grav­el road. Not all rental vehi­cles are allowed on the McCarthy road, so check with your rental agency before you travel.

The Glenn is hard to avoid if you want the full Alas­ka expe­ri­ence. Not only does it con­nect you with pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tions and oth­er major high­ways, this well-main­tained road takes you from down­town Anchor­age to Alaska’s farm­lands, glac­i­ers, and beyond.

Dri­ving non-stop from Anchor­age to Homer would take a good 4.55 hours. How­ev­er, you’ll find plen­ty of rea­sons to pull over on the dri­ve south: Wildlife often appears along the road­side. Pull­outs offer pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties of whales, waves, and vol­ca­noes. Trail­heads lead to fab­u­lous alpine and ocean views. Restau­rants offer lunch breaks beyond the usu­al fast-food fare. Enjoy­ing all the scenery and activ­i­ties along the way could eas­i­ly stretch this  ...more

The Ster­ling High­way begins at the Tern Lake Junc­tion of the Seward High­way and stretch­es 142 miles to the town of Homer

[{"slug":"copper-center","title":"Copper Center"},{"slug":"anchorage","title":"Anchorage"},{"slug":"fairbanks","title":"Fairbanks"},{"slug":"southcentral-interior","title":"Southcentral & Interior"},{"slug":"homer","title":"Homer"}]

Scenic Day Drives

Great drives in Southcentral, Nome, and Kodiak

It’s 92 miles and about 5 hours from the park entrance to Kan­tish­na, the end of the Park Road. Pri­vate vehi­cles aren’t per­mit­ted after Mile 15, so you’ll need to take either the hop-on, hop-off park shut­tle bus or one of the tour bus­es. This road is only open in the sum­mer months between May and ear­ly Sep­tem­ber. Dates vary depend­ing on annu­al snowfall.

The Seward High­way hugs the dra­mat­ic shore­lines of Tur­na­gain Arm. One of the most beau­ti­ful stretch­es of high­way in America

Portage Val­ley south­east of Anchor­age at the head of Tur­na­gain Arm offers so many poten­tial adven­tures that you might have to tow a trail­er loaded with gear to sam­ple them all. What will you find here? Bik­ing, hik­ing, pic­nick­ing, fish­ing, pad­dling, wildlife view­ing, poten­tial ice­berg sight­ings — plus a nat­ur­al his­to­ry vis­i­tor cen­ter packed with inter­ac­tive dis­plays about the ecosys­tem of the val­ley and Prince William Sound. It’s like an outdoor  ...more

To explore the road less trav­eled, take the Old Glenn High­way to Palmer, a back road that feels like old Alas­ka. This 19-mile coun­try road cuts through the heart of Alaska’s farm­land and is a scenic, qui­et alter­na­tive between Anchor­age and Palmer. The road access­es state parks and recre­ation areas, pet­ting zoos, and hik­ing trails and pass­es through pic­turesque ter­rain: pas­toral coun­try­side beneath the Chugach Moun­tains and Pio­neer Peak. The…  ...more

To enjoy a scenic dri­ve just a few min­utes from down­town Anchor­age, head north to mile 6.1 on the Glenn High­way. From here, you can head up the steep and wind­ing, Arc­tic Val­ley Road. The dri­ve itself is only 45 min­utes, but once you get there, you’ll want to spend more time pho­tograph­ing and exploring.

A curvy road fol­low­ing the shore­line south from town, this 42-mile high­way will take you past the U.S. Coast Guard Sta­tion, salmon streams, long ocean inlets, and exposed surf beaches.

This 18-mile-long loop grav­el road is the pre­mier wildlife-view­ing area on the Kenai Penin­su­la, and you’ll get spec­tac­u­lar views of lakes and glac­i­ers. Don’t for­get to stop and explore all the nature and wildlife around you!

Dri­ving north from Anchor­age isn’t as instant­ly dra­mat­ic as going south, but with­in an hour you’re immersed in stop-and-shoot scenery. The Glenn High­way runs north­east to agri­cul­tur­al Palmer, then twists east along the Matanus­ka Riv­er Val­ley, sand­wiched between coastal and inte­ri­or mountains.

Under an hour from Anchor­age, this 22-mile dri­ve takes you away from Alaska’s towns and cities, and into Chugach State Park. The road is smooth with twists and turns, and runs along­side Eklut­na Riv­er, and the beau­ti­ful and glacial Eklut­na Lake. You can also see Twin Peaks over the trees.

The short­est road out of town, Rezanof Dri­ve becomes Monash­ka Bay Road and runs north­west of Kodi­ak for 12 miles. On this dri­ve, you’ll get great views of the Spe­cif­ic coast, hik­ing trails, tide pools, a white-sand beach, and a museum.

Dri­ving north from Anchor­age isn’t as instant­ly dra­mat­ic as going south, but with­in an hour you’re immersed in stop-and-shoot scenery. The Glenn High­way runs north­east to agri­cul­tur­al Palmer, and from there you can take a moun­tain road to scenic Hatch­er Pass.

Head­ing south­west out of town and then curv­ing towards the north, this rel­a­tive­ly short road offers access to salmon streams, wildlife habi­tat, hik­ing, win­ter recre­ation, the Coast Guard golf course, and a pro­tect­ed bay that’s great for sea kayak­ing and beachcombing.

A 17 mile one-way jaunt from Chini­ak High­way, this road was com­plet­ed along­side the devel­op­ment of the Alas­ka Aero­space Cor­po­ra­tion launch site, which is at the end of the road. In addi­tion to access­ing the pri­vate site, the paved road offers recre­ation­al­ists and trav­el­ers access to great fish­ing beach­es and rivers, surf spots, state parks, and scenic views of alpine pass­es and ocean. There’s also a pri­vate ranch here, where semi-domesticated  ...more

When locals want to see trees, they head north on The Nome — Tay­lor Road (also called Beam Rd. or Kougarok Rd.) The 85-mile grav­el road runs north-south and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. The route winds past many old min­ing claims, the pop­u­lar Salmon Lake, and offers a side trip to his­toric Pil­grim Hot Springs.

Where can you dri­ve to see an amaz­ing glac­i­er, a muse­um with a saloon, and an old town site in a lit­tle over 30 min­utes? The 32-mile trip from Valdez to Wor­thing­ton Glac­i­er is short, but worth­while. The dri­ve itself is beau­ti­ful, with this span of the Richard­son High­way just along­side Lowe River.

Nome — Coun­cil Road spans 72 miles (East) and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. For spec­tac­u­lar bird­ing, sweep­ing coastal views, and the famous Last Train to Nowhere,” explore the Nome — Coun­cil Road. Addi­tion­al high­lights include the Safe­ty Road­house, which is the last stop on the Idi­tar­od Sled Dog Race, and the small com­mu­ni­ty of Coun­cil, which boast­ed a pop­u­la­tion of 15,000 in its heydey.

The Nome – Teller Road brings you with­in 55 miles of Rus­sia, and is as close as you can dri­ve to the Bering Strait Land Bridge. The road trav­els 73 miles north­west and takes about 2 hours one-way with­out stops. You end at Teller, an authen­tic Inu­pi­at vil­lage of few­er than 300 peo­ple who sur­vive on a sub­sis­tence lifestyle.

[{"slug":"copper-center","title":"Copper Center"},{"slug":"anchorage","title":"Anchorage"},{"slug":"fairbanks","title":"Fairbanks"},{"slug":"southcentral-interior","title":"Southcentral & Interior"},{"slug":"homer","title":"Homer"},{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park & Preserve"},{"slug":"kodiak","title":"Kodiak"},{"slug":"kenai-peninsula","title":"Kenai Peninsula Audio Guide"},{"slug":"glacier-view","title":"Glacier View"},{"slug":"nome","title":"Nome"},{"slug":"valdez","title":"Valdez"}]

Off the Beaten Path

Take the road less traveled

Tay­lor High­way (Hwy 5) is open sea­son­al­ly from April to mid-Octo­ber. Con­di­tions of the road can range any­where between good to poor and depend heav­i­ly on weath­er and main­te­nance. Keep in mind that there are very lim­it­ed ser­vices or facil­i­ties avail­able along the road past Eagle.

His­to­ry Tay­lor High­way is a route through gold min­ing his­to­ry. Gold was dis­cov­ered here as ear­ly as 1881, and dis­cov­er­ies in 1887 and 1888 lead to inte­ri­or Alaska’s first gold rush. Min­ing set­tle­ments like Jack Wade, Chick­en, and Franklin were estab­lished prac­ti­cal­ly overnight. Walk­ing trails were quik­ly forged by men trav­el­ing between near­by Eagle and the new min­ing set­tle­ments. These paths even­tu­al­ly became wag­on roads, and then Taylor…  ...more

Paved and well-main­tained (with some rough patch­es in win­ter), this 125 mile dri­ve is a great way of see­ing Alaska’s back­coun­try. While it is a beau­ti­ful dri­ve year-round, locals have said their favorite time to take the Tok Cut­off is the fall and the spring, not only for the changes in flo­ra, but for the start of migrat­ing caribou!

The name isn’t com­plete­ly arbi­trary – For most of the ride you dri­ve along the peaks and crests of moun­tains and hills, leav­ing you a view of the val­leys below. Though only open in the sum­mer months, this 79 mile grav­el-road has some spec­tac­u­lar views of the Alas­ka Range, and can take you on your way to Daw­son City in the Yukon.

NOTE: The Cop­per Riv­er High­way is cur­rent­ly closed beyond mile 36, where there is a failed bridge. As of this time, the road does not go beyond that point. The 49.5 mile Cop­per Riv­er High­way leads from the town of Cor­do­va to the Mil­lion Dol­lar Bridge. The Mil­lion Dol­lar Bridge was once used by the rail­road to haul cop­per from Ken­ni­cott to the port of Cor­do­va, and was added to the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places in 2000. Aside from the  ...more

A lit­tle less than half of the 127 mile trip from Glen­nallen to McCarthy involves paved road­ways, and the grav­el sur­face of the McCarthy Road makes the trip slow going. How­ev­er, if you’re pre­pared for any con­di­tions (stop by the Chiti­na Ranger Sta­tions, and be sure to bring a spare tire and jack!), the dri­ve from Glen­nallen to McCarthy is well worth the effort. The dri­ve is one of two access points to Wrangell-St.Elias Nation­al Park, and takes  ...more

If you’ve seen the TV show Ice Road Truck­ers, then you’re famil­iar with the James W. Dal­ton High­way, a 414-mile stretch of grav­el and dirt that runs from the town of Liven­good up to Prud­hoe Bay and through some of Alaska’s most remote wilderness.

Open year-round, the Elliott High­way is paved until it meets the Dal­ton High­way at mile 73. But don’t let a lit­tle change in the road stop you from tak­ing this amaz­ing dri­ve! Pass through the White Moun­tains and get the first good views of the Alas­ka Pipeline, and relax at the nat­ur­al hot spring in Manley.

The Alas­ka High­way, some­times known as the ALCAN (Alas­ka-Cana­da High­way), is the only way to dri­ve up to Alas­ka from the low­er 48s. While the trip in total from Daw­son Creek, British Colum­bia to Delta Junc­tion, Alas­ka is 1,387 miles, the dri­ve from Port Alcan at the bor­der is clos­er to 200 miles. This guide will give you good rea­son to make stops between the bor­der and Delta Junc­tion, where the Alas­ka High­way meets the Richard­son Highway.

The Denali High­way, stretch­ing 135 miles from Pax­son to Cantwell, is cer­tain­ly one of the most spec­tac­u­lar dri­ves in the world. Much of the route lies above tim­ber­line, so the vis­tas go on for­ev­er. The moun­tains and glac­i­ers of the Alas­ka Range form a majes­tic back­drop, with miles of rolling tun­dra punc­tu­at­ed by shal­low lakes in between. There are a few along the way, and you can camp any­where along the highway.

Dri­ve down the 42-mile Nabesna Road for tremen­dous views to rival any road sys­tem in Alas­ka. The Wrangell, Men­tas­ta and Nut­zotin Moun­tains cre­ate a majes­tic panora­ma, char­ac­ter­ized by some of the high­est moun­tains in North Amer­i­ca. Nabesna Road is one of two that allows access to Alaska’s largest nation­al park, the Wrangell-St Elias Nation­al Park and Pre­serve. Ser­vices are lim­it­ed and road con­di­tions vary with the sea­sons, but there are plen­ty of  ...more

The skies of Inte­ri­or Alas­ka are not some­thing to miss, and the Steese High­way is an excel­lent way to expe­ri­ence them. In the sum­mer, the sun hangs low in the sky for long peri­ods of time and numer­ous small clouds come and go, cre­at­ing a mov­ing dance of light and shad­ow. You can dri­ve to Eagle Sum­mit (3,624 ft.) dur­ing sum­mer sol­stice (June 21st) to see the sun crawl across the hori­zon. Or you can dri­ve the Steese High­way in the win­ter and get a  ...more

[{"slug":"copper-center","title":"Copper Center"},{"slug":"anchorage","title":"Anchorage"},{"slug":"fairbanks","title":"Fairbanks"},{"slug":"southcentral-interior","title":"Southcentral & Interior"},{"slug":"homer","title":"Homer"},{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park & Preserve"},{"slug":"kodiak","title":"Kodiak"},{"slug":"kenai-peninsula","title":"Kenai Peninsula Audio Guide"},{"slug":"glacier-view","title":"Glacier View"},{"slug":"nome","title":"Nome"},{"slug":"valdez","title":"Valdez"},{"slug":"chicken","title":"Chicken"},{"slug":"tok","title":"Tok"},{"slug":"cordova","title":"Cordova"},{"slug":"mccarthy","title":"McCarthy-Kennicott"},{"slug":"delta-junction","title":"Delta Junction"},{"slug":"wrangell-st-elias-national-park","title":"Wrangell St. Elias National Park"}]