Why this ride
The highest point is about 1,450 m. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dalton Highway: Arctic Circle to Atigun Pass
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 467 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 24
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Coldfoot → Atigun Pass
The ride follows Coldfoot → Atigun Pass for 260 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 260 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Arctic Circle
Mile 115 on the Dalton Highway is the Arctic Circle, and there is a wooden sign beside the road to prove it, with a small campground and picnic area run by the Bureau of Land Management. The line sits at about sixty-six and a half degrees north, and on the summer solstice the sun does not fully set for those who stand a little further north. It is a remote, windy, mosquito-ridden spot, and it is hugely satisfying to reach on a motorcycle.
Read the complete Arctic Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Arctic Circle is where the day begins. Next is Coldfoot.
2. Coldfoot
Coldfoot is a truck stop and a handful of buildings on the south side of the Brooks Range, at mile 175 of the Dalton Highway, and it is the last place with services for two hundred and forty miles. The name is said to come from the early prospectors of the gold rush in 1900, who arrived, saw the cold and got cold feet. Only a few dozen people live here year-round, and in summer the population includes truckers, pipeline workers and a few travellers.
Read the complete Coldfoot write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coldfoot comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is Atigun Pass.
3. Atigun Pass
The Atigun Pass is the highest road pass in Alaska, 1,444 metres above sea level, and it carries the Dalton Highway through the Brooks Range, the last great barrier before the North Slope and the Arctic Ocean. The mountains here are bare, with jagged grey rock and green tundra, and the continental divide runs across the top, so that rivers on one side flow to the Pacific and Arctic waters on the other. The trans-Alaska pipeline climbs beside the road, running above the ground on steel supports so that its heat will not thaw the permafrost, and it is both a marvel of engineering and a reminder of how remote this country is.
Read the complete Atigun Pass write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 467 km. Nothing on this route is higher.
Leg by leg
Arctic Circle to Coldfoot
Arctic Circle → Coldfoot is 207 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Coldfoot to Atigun Pass
Coldfoot → Atigun Pass is 260 km. This is the part worth slowing down for - look through the bends and use the pull-offs.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Dalton Highway · 799 km
- Dalton Highway: Yukon River Crossing to Coldfoot · 415 km
- Dalton Highway: Coldfoot to Deadhorse · 856 km
- Dalton Highway: Fairbanks to Coldfoot · 410 km