Why this ride
From Fairbanks it runs 314 km to the finish; allow about 6 h 14 of riding. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dalton Highway: Fairbanks to Arctic Circle
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 314 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 14
- 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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fairbanks
Fairbanks is the northernmost city of any size that most riders will ever reach by road, and it wears that with a certain pride. About thirty thousand people live here on the Chena River, in the middle of the Alaska interior, where summer days are close to endless and winter temperatures can drop to minus forty. It calls itself the Golden Heart City, a nod to the gold strike of 1902 that created the town, and the old gold-mining history is still part of the identity.
Read the complete Fairbanks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fairbanks is where the day begins. Next is Yukon River Crossing.
2. Yukon River Crossing
Few bridges feel as lonely as the one over the Yukon River on the Dalton Highway. It is a long steel truss with a wooden deck, completed in the mid-1970s to carry the trucks that built the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and the pipeline itself runs alongside, a silver snake sliding across the river on its own supports. Fairbanks lies a long day behind, and the Arctic lies ahead. At this point the highway has already left pavement and certainty well behind.
Read the complete Yukon River Crossing write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yukon River Crossing comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is Arctic Circle.
3. 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
The route ends here after 314 km.
Leg by leg
Fairbanks to Yukon River Crossing
Fairbanks → Yukon River Crossing is 218 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Yukon River Crossing to Arctic Circle
Yukon River Crossing → Arctic Circle is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.