Drive to Arctic Circle in “high miles” 4th Gen 4Runner

[plainjaneFJC]

That was your home?

 

[dman93]

@tlrols sounds like you had a great trip and your summary is similar to our experience after the northern trip we also did in July/August this summer. But I’ll confess that though we have a Tacoma, which is why I’m even on this sub-forum, we took our van. Kitchen, toilet, fridge, outdoor shower, and enough room inside for two of us plus dog, two mountain bikes and inflatable paddle board. As well as too many clothes, too much food, and too many tools and recovery gear we didn’t use . We took the ferry north from Bellingham, spent a week in Ketchikan to break up the ferry ride for the dog (dogs have to stay in the vehicle but you can go down every 4-6 hours to feed them etc). Then on from Ketchikan to Haines, around AK including Kenai and Denali, then into Yukon but not north of Whitehorse, back through BC and drove the rest of the way home to California. camped every night for just over two months.

I had seen a lot of the area between California and Inuvik back in 1987, on a motorcycle, and roads and services are MUCH better now. Highlights this time around were side roads off Hatcher Pass and the Denali Hwy, which were the only real off-grid dispersed camping we did that wasn’t in a gravel pit or roadside pullout. And Hyder AK and the Salmon Glacier north of Hyder but back in BC. If you want to limit driving distance from the Lower 48, Hyder and Stewart BC really provide the Far North experience - glaciers, bears, eagles, waterfalls, dirt roads, dive bars - without having to drive so far north. Also, prices aren’t cheap but after taking into account the US/Canada exchange rate some things weren't as bad as they looked. Draft microbrew was typically $7 Cdn a pint which is $5.20 US and that’s pretty cheap by California standards. And the beer is good!

BC Ale Trail | Northern BC

With majestic scenery and abundant natural beauty, exploring this beautiful region is perfectly suited for those who enjoy epic road trips—especially when the reward at the end of a long day of driving is a craft brewery serving up delicious beer.

bcaletrail.ca

 

[tlrols]

That was your home?

Yes. My home along with around 300 others burned down. Weirdly liberating experience honestly! Crazy I know. I am pondering some very different life choices right now.

 

[tlrols]

@tlrols sounds like you had a great trip and your summary is similar to our experience after the northern trip we also did in July/August this summer. But I’ll confess that though we have a Tacoma, which is why I’m even on this sub-forum, we took our van. Kitchen, toilet, fridge, outdoor shower, and enough room inside for two of us plus dog, two mountain bikes and inflatable paddle board. As well as too many clothes, too much food, and too many tools and recovery gear we didn’t use . We took the ferry north from Bellingham, spent a week in Ketchikan to break up the ferry ride for the dog (dogs have to stay in the vehicle but you can go down every 4-6 hours to feed them etc). Then on from Ketchikan to Haines, around AK including Kenai and Denali, then into Yukon but not north of Whitehorse, back through BC and drove the rest of the way home to California. camped every night for just over two months.

I had seen a lot of the area between California and Inuvik back in 1987, on a motorcycle, and roads and services are MUCH better now. Highlights this time around were side roads off Hatcher Pass and the Denali Hwy, which were the only real off-grid dispersed camping we did that wasn’t in a gravel pit or roadside pullout. And Hyder AK and the Salmon Glacier north of Hyder but back in BC. If you want to limit driving distance from the Lower 48, Hyder and Stewart BC really provide the Far North experience - glaciers, bears, eagles, waterfalls, dirt roads, dive bars - without having to drive so far north. Also, prices aren’t cheap but after taking into account the US/Canada exchange rate some things weren't as bad as they looked. Draft microbrew was typically $7 Cdn a pint which is $5.20 US and that’s pretty cheap by California standards. And the beer is good!

BC Ale Trail | Northern BC

With majestic scenery and abundant natural beauty, exploring this beautiful region is perfectly suited for those who enjoy epic road trips—especially when the reward at the end of a long day of driving is a craft brewery serving up delicious beer.

bcaletrail.ca

I think I will give the Dalton Highway a go next year just to say I have done them both. It is worth stating for folks that dispersed camping and off pavement exploration is not readily available in the far north. The roads there are sparse and serve a singular purpose. Pull outs and gravel pits are where you pull over. The excellent Canadian campgrounds are the typical choice for most folks. Not to say there are not places to travel off pavement but there is no BLM network of roads to go enjoy. Also, glacial melting in late summer is a thing which closed some of the few places I wanted to explored north of Haines Junction.

 

[aknightinak]

... It is worth stating for folks that dispersed camping and off pavement exploration is not readily available in the far north. The roads there are sparse and serve a singular purpose. Pull outs and gravel pits are where you pull over... Not to say there are not places to travel off pavement but there is no BLM network of roads to go enjoy.

This is pretty true. There are a lot of routes to off-grid sites, but not many that the average overland rig will be able to travel or would even want to travel. More people here build dedicated wheelers or buggies to actually go over land, and that being said, over time, more trails have become weight restricted to quads, SxSs, and smaller tracked rigs. As such, there's also always been a serious reluctance among folks who live here to share access points and routes, let alone post them on the web, lest they become overused and bring restrictions or closures as a result (fighting the tide with a beach bucket, we know).

dman hit on a couple of the more navigable spots in Southcentral AK. Mostly these are mining roads, both abandoned and active.

 

[tlrols]

This is pretty true. There are a lot of routes to off-grid sites, but not many that the average overland rig will be able to travel or would even want to travel. More people here build dedicated wheelers or buggies to actually go over land, and that being said, over time, more trails have become weight restricted to quads, SxSs, and smaller tracked rigs. As such, there's also always been a serious reluctance among folks who live here to share access points and routes, let alone post them on the web, lest they become overused and bring restrictions or closures as a result (fighting the tide with a beach bucket, we know).

dman hit on a couple of the more navigable spots in Southcentral AK. Mostly these are mining roads, both abandoned and active.

I did roll with the “see a road take it” approach. It worked wonderfully. I drove along several rivers on glacial till that was totally road like with low water. I admit I was worried about heavy rains though! I brought a Garmin In-Reach along which served as a talisman against evil…

I do know that driving through muskeg is not a choice you want to make. Just walking through it was bad…no way you drive a regular 4WD through it. Even hiking is challenging in the far north. ATV’s seem to have low enough ground pressure so the locals use those.

 

[tlrols]

Well…I just put a Sprinter into the mix. I aim to hit the Dalton Highway this summer.

Slap an Amazon Prime wrap on it and I am totally stealth. 😁

Oddly I never realized just how tall these things are. This adventure focus is a disease.

The only downside I see with this is money…

 

[myalias]

Final analysis on this is do it! It is expensive but you are, after all, driving thousands of miles. You DO NOT need some sort of beast 4WD to make this drive. I never once used low range…my rig is always in 4-Hi since it’s a V8 4th Gen 4Runner. I have a modest lift which was some what useful but not really required.

I also took my 2004 V8 4Runner up there in 2022. I had about 290k km on the odometer. Everyone hyped it up like it was treacherous, but it's mostly a high speed gravel highway except for some winding bits through the mountains. Semi trucks drive it. That said, the locals all have AT tires. And there is the rare piece of easily avoided sharp shale on the road.

 

[tlrols]

Agreed. My experience is only in summer but I saw sedans in the locals hands. It was a cool trip but honestly the lower 48 has much more 4WD opportunities. Roads are very, very purpose focused up north.