Advice for driving to Alaska (from Calgary, Alberta)

[US 41]

I bought a plane ticket to Calgary for June and I am going to be renting a car to drive the Alcan up to Anchorage and Fairbanks. I called the rental company and they said they allow their cars to go into Alaska. Many don't, so just in case I have a backup plan to go to Yellowknife and Whitehorse (via paved hwys only) just in case. Either trip will be roughly 4500 miles and around 80 hours of driving.

I guess my question is does anyone have any advice on things to bring and places to stop along the way. I'm definitely prepared for the remoteness and the fact that it will never get truly dark once I get up to the Yukon and Alaska. I will also be sleeping in the car along the way.

My initial list of things to bring or buy once I get there:
1) Making sure my rental has a spare tire.
2) Checking my tire pressure before I hit the Alcan.
3) Buying a spare quart of oil.
4) Buying a jug of the correct antifreeze.
5) Possibly getting jumper cables.
6) Possibly bringing spare fuses.
7) Having plenty of water.

Maybe I'm being too overly prepared, but I'd rather have those things and not need them, than to need them and not have them and be 150 miles away from the nearest (so called) town with no cell reception. FWIW I drove all of the Transpeninsular in Baja California, so it won't be the first time I've done an extremely remote highway for an extremely long distance. I definitely understand the concept of filling up every time you see a gas station.

[MikeTheActuary]

Out of curiosity, who are you renting with?   I'd love to drive the Alcan, but logistics mean I probably never will (my wife is disabled and not compatible with long drives; if I leave her at home alone more than 3 nights in a row, I need to ask a friend or hire a professional to help her out...).

However, that assumed driving from CT.  For some reason, I hadn't even thought about flying and renting....

[JayhawkCO]

Out of curiosity, who are you renting with?   I'd love to drive the Alcan, but logistics mean I probably never will (my wife is disabled and not compatible with long drives; if I leave her at home alone more than 3 nights in a row, I need to ask a friend or hire a professional to help her out...).

However, that assumed driving from CT.  For some reason, I hadn't even thought about flying and renting....

I obviously can't answer that question, but I've looked into the fly and drive option before and renting out of Edmonton typically is the closest you can find with unlimited miles (kms). Places like Grand Prairie, Fort St. John, etc. have rental cars but mileage (kilometrage?) restrictions so it makes it a bit cost prohibitive. I think I did find unlimited miles out of Terrace, BC once if you wanted to drive the Cassiar.

[MikeTheActuary]

I mentioned in the road trip thread that I have booked a trip to drive from Edmonton to Winnipeg, as I start working on a goal of setting foot in (I refuse to call it "clinching") all 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Renting in Edmonton to drive the Alcan would still be logistically difficult given my home situation (especially since I assume international one-way rentals aren't a thing), but I do now need to see whether a one-way rental between Edmonton and Whitehorse might be a possibility.  I'm disappointed that I hadn't even thought of that, and it would be a more efficient / less grueling way to get YT and BC than I had originally anticipated.

[JayhawkCO]

I mentioned in the road trip thread that I have booked a trip to drive from Edmonton to Winnipeg, as I start working on a goal of setting foot in (I refuse to call it "clinching") all 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Renting in Edmonton to drive the Alcan would still be logistically difficult given my home situation (especially since I assume international one-way rentals aren't a thing), but I do now need to see whether a one-way rental between Edmonton and Whitehorse might be a possibility.  I'm disappointed that I hadn't even thought of that, and it would be a more efficient / less grueling way to get YT and BC than I had originally anticipated.

International one way rentals are a thing (actually just looked one up from Seattle to Vancouver for an upcoming trip), but you pay for the privilege for sure.

[oscar]

My initial list of things to bring or buy once I get there:
1) Making sure my rental has a spare tire.
2) Checking my tire pressure before I hit the Alcan.
3) Buying a spare quart of oil.
4) Buying a jug of the correct antifreeze.
5) Possibly getting jumper cables.
6) Possibly bringing spare fuses.
7) Having plenty of water.

I've done multiple road trips to and from Alaska (generally in my own vehicle rather than a rental). Some of the items on your list seem to be overkill. I've never had to add antifreeze, change fuses, or use jumper cables except to help other drivers. I bring a quart or two of oil, but only because I drive older cars that burn a little oil, that need the oil topped off after about 5K miles.

On the spare tire, check on major construction on the Alcan that will make you drive on long stretches of gravel. Gravel is unkind to space-saver spares. I have a full-size spare in my own vehicles. But while some roads in the Arctic require one or two mounted full-size spares, the usually paved Alcan isn't one of them.

A CB radio is useful, but I've never had to use mine.

You might want to bring the latest Milepost travel guide (2026 edition can be ordered online), with detailed route logs and other tips.

[kphoger]

I've never had to add antifreeze

I have a few times, but I wouldn't want to add any to a rental car, just for the sake of legal liability.

[oscar]

I've never had to add antifreeze

Just to clarify, I meant to say I never added antifreeze to any of my cars. But my mechanic noticed I needed more (or replaced) antifreeze during routine preventive maintenance, the mechanic would take care of that, so the problem wouldn't need to be fixed while I was on the road.

My condo complex frowns on DIY oil changes or other non-trivial auto repairs, anyway.

[kphoger]

Technically, I've only added water while on a road trip, not coolant.  But, also technically, water is the 'antifreeze' component of the mix.  I know I've relayed the story before, but...

I topped off coolant before heading out on a road trip -slash- camping trip with the family to Colorado and Utah.  Unwittingly, I neglected to replace the cap after topping off.  When we got to the continental divide, it was hissing and spitting all over under the hood.  I lifted the hood, saw the missing cap, bought some duct tape, ripped off a tee-shirt sleeve, and improvised.  Made it to O'Reilly in Gunnison, asked for a cap for the radiator overflow.  The clerk said he couldn't find one of those in the database, asked if it looked like the one on the radiator.  I said yes, so he sold me one of those instead.  After arriving to the Ouray area, I saw that it was still spitting and hissing under the hood, but I couldn't figure out why.  Whenever I'd look into the overflow reservoir, I saw coolant in there, so I figured I wasn't losing much, but I abandoned my plan anyway to drive over Ophir Pass.  Instead, we took the safer alternative via CO-62.  Just north of Naturita, the temperature gauge pinned at 'H', so I pulled off the road.  100°F weather, no cell reception.  A logging truck stopped, and they made their best guess:  even though I could still see coolant in the reservoir, it was otherwise dry.  I had just shy of 15 gallons of drinking water in the back, so we filled it up and were on our way.  Just south of Gateway, we turned west through John Brown Canyon and up toward the Utah state line, with plans to take the forest roads from there.  At the top, it was still spitting and hissing, so we abandoned our plans for Utah entirely.  Drove to Gateway, grabbed a quick gas station lunch, and then drove to Grand Junction with the heat on full-blast in the 100°F sun.  Dropped it off at a mechanic, spent two nights in a hotel.  After a full day of detailed investigation, they determined that I had bought the wrong cap back in Gunnison.  Apparently, what I thought was an overflow reservoir was actually an expansion tank—which is a cooling system I knew nothing about—which meant that, instead of the radiator taking a pressure cap and the tank taking a flat cap, it's the tank that takes a pressure cap.  So my system wasn't pressurized properly, allowing the coolant to boil and steam away bit by bit as I drove.  Got the car back, drove back over the Rockies.

(The next year, I blew a hole in the radiator itself on my way to taking my son to piano lessons.  But that was in town, and I was able to drive it to a mechanic, keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge.)

[US 41]

Out of curiosity, who are you renting with?   I'd love to drive the Alcan, but logistics mean I probably never will (my wife is disabled and not compatible with long drives; if I leave her at home alone more than 3 nights in a row, I need to ask a friend or hire a professional to help her out...).

However, that assumed driving from CT.  For some reason, I hadn't even thought about flying and renting....

I obviously can't answer that question, but I've looked into the fly and drive option before and renting out of Edmonton typically is the closest you can find with unlimited miles (kms). Places like Grand Prairie, Fort St. John, etc. have rental cars but mileage (kilometrage?) restrictions so it makes it a bit cost prohibitive. I think I did find unlimited miles out of Terrace, BC once if you wanted to drive the Cassiar.

I'm renting with Enterprise. Their cars at Calgary and Edmonton have unlimited kilometers. I had originally planned on flying to Edmonton, but it was easier and cheaper to fly into Calgary (3 hours south) from where I live instead.

I also saw one way rentals mentioned. I am going to be returning the car to Calgary. I'm basically doing the Alcan on the way up and the Cassiar on the way back.

[kphoger]

Technically, I've only added water while on a road trip, not coolant.  But, also technically, water is the 'antifreeze' component of the mix.

Whoops.  How did nobody call me out on that.  Got that totally wrong.