Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Tips for driving the Alcan

Heading to Tri Cities, WA July 1 via the Alcan/Cassiar (I haven't ever driven the Alcan). Driving with my buddy in his Class C motorhome. We're going low & slow and aren't in a hurry. Planning on 5-6 days to get to Tri Cities.
I've got my passport & Milepost.
Couple questions:
*Will my credit card work in Canada? Will I have to pay a bunch of hidden charges to use it? Will my c/c company automatically do the US dollar to Canadian dollar conversion?
*I want to bring some Canadian currency with me. Where in Anchorage can I exchange US for Canadian dollars and get the best rate? Should I wait to get to Whitehorse, YT to convert my money?

Any tips or advice for driving down?

Canadians are just like real Americans (they will take offense at that. . ) CC, US, Canadian funny money (theirs is prettier!!!) all works. Haven't been in Canada for over 20 years, so, for more specific, ask someone who has.

I think most banks, maybe your CU, in Anchorage can exchange. I think also, conversion is automatic on CC, but I'm real hazy on that, it's been so long.

5-6 days to Tri-cities is about 500 - 600 miles a day (judging from our trips to Montana). That's 10-12 hours of driving, barring road work. I'd factor in a couple extra days for a more leisurely trip.

We would usually make Billings from Soldotna in 4-5 days, running 12-16 hours a day.

Yes, credit card will convert. Exchange rate is about $1.34 C = $1.00 US. If you really want to make a Canadian border guard's day, get a Canadian insurance card from your auto insurer, they might try to actually hug you at the border station. Last time I took the Cassiar I was in the suds all the way (Visibility less than 1/4 mile) but if clear there is some great scenery along that route. Much was unpaved back then (about 12-13 years ago) Enjoy!

Just drove up and back from Washington State last month. Roads are in pretty good shape.

Yes, American credit cards work fine. Some fuel stations want your credit card inside the station before they'll turn on the pump. Late in the day, some stations close early. Use caution, it would be easy to end up waiting for a station to open.

Cassiar highway is beautiful. I took some time for hiking, camping and photography along the way.

Registered my rifle with U.S. Customs before crossing, and glad I did. I think it was a $25 fee to take the gun through Canada, and they really liked that I had it in a locked case.

BC and Yukon Territories have some nice campgrounds along the way at very reasonable prices. I camped most nights, up and back. Just parked my Jeep, put up my little tent and enjoyed. Canadian currency was very useful to pay for the campsites.

The paper map in the Milepost was great! It's all I used during the drive. Not that it's a complicated route.

Enjoy the drive, give yourself plenty of time.

Regards, Guy

On your cc make sure you call your bank letting them know you will be going though Canada. They might ask how many days you will be in Canada. Don't ask how I know to call the bank before hand😁 Also when using American cash a lot of the stores will not do the conversion rate they will do a one for one. They make money you lose money.. so use cc or Canadian money.. if you bank with Alaska USA they lways took care of the conversion rate.

Wook;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope all is well in your world so far this week.

As others have noted, it's all pay at the pump in BC and there's a chance some cards will have to be used inside instead of at the pump. It works the same for us traveling down stateside - my Amex card doesn't seem to work at WA pumps but the Master Card works fine?

There's usually free WiFi at fast food places and tourist information places too, so if you're wanting up to the minute road data, pull in and hit this site - http://www.drivebc.com/

It's a pretty straight forward site and give highway cam on the passes as well. We never go anywhere here without a quick check there first.

My credit cards take an extra point or two when converting into US currency and if yours does as well, then you don't get to take advantage of the low Canadian dollar to it's fullest. That said, fuel is more money here despite that. I'd say alcohol and tobacco is more here too, but interestingly when we went down the Washington and Oregon coast a couple weeks ago we found many grocery items were about the same dollar value - but of course we had to add $.38 to every dollar.....

If you check out this site you might find you're passing by some very nice hot springs. We've got a bunch of them and I've not been at one I didn't enjoy. http://blog.hellobc.com/the-top-5-hot-springs-in-bc/

Lastly it's baby season now so keep the binoculars and telephoto lens camera handy. My good wife and I ran up the valley to Costco last night and on the way home spotted a herd of a dozen mountain goats including a couple fresh kids so that was cool.

Anyway I think that's it for now before I head off to the salt mines. If you check out the visiting hunter thread in the Canada section there's a few more topics discussed - cell phone coverage and such come immediately to mind. Hope that helped sir and hav a safe and scenic journey.

Dwayne

Make sure your bank and credit cards don't have a foreign transaction fee.

Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account is a good option for foreign travel.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

And as always, cash is king. Noting worse than having a cc machine down and only have $3 in your wallet.

That's good to know, the last time I drove it was in the spring of '96 and it was is pretty rough shape. Driving along the Frasier River with no guard rails on a dirt road that is washboarded out wasn't a lot of fun plus add in the fact that gas stations were few and far between and that makes for a long nerve wracking trip.

I usually round trip it every year and a couple trips to Whitehorse added on.

Slow down between Koidern and Kluane.......muskeg and permafrost make for a difficult piece of road.

I use my local bank card at an ATN if Whitehorse to get $CAN. Small fee.

Advise credit card company of your travel.

Carry some food with you as most restaurants suck.

Buy gas at major places as they sell much more.......none held over winter etc.

Lotsa black bears on Cassiar.

Take your time. Remember speeds are in Km/hr. You can't buy beer at convenience stores.

Make sure vehicle ins. is Canada approved. Call ins. co.

Thanks for the heads-up. We're flexible and aren't bound by time, so we may be selling ourselves short at 5-6 days.

Thanks Kid for the insurance tip. Appreciate the c/c tips. I'll call in advance. Vern, we're going to Costco to pack the fridge! Likely won't eat out much on this trip. Thanks for the tip about the km/hr Ironbender. Forgot about that.

Cards or cash are fine. Do let your card company know, however, that you'll be heading off in a new direction. Forgot to do that and the card company shut me down between the first and second fuel purchase at Watson Lake. Had cash to cover, but had to call the card company and get myself reactivated in the morning.

Dwayne/BC, THANKS for the links. Didn't know about the Hot Springs. We'll have Bino's & a good camera, my buddy is a total photography nerd--hence why we're not in a hurry.

Thanks for all the advice and tips from everyone.

Good plan on the CC alert.. Last week the wife was recruiting for teachers for the NW Arctic in Houston. This week, she's in Indianapolis. I've had calls/alerts....

Got my card put on hold once myself, just from Kotzebue to Kenai... but i was kinda hammering the sucker...

Enjoy the road! Take your binos and camera.

The road surface is great especially compared to 50 years ago. Forty years ago, if you were advertising a "cherry" used car for sale
in the Anchorage Times, you would list it as "no Alcan".......meaning it had not been abused by driving to Alaska.

WATCH OUT FOR BICYCLISTS!

WOOK ON HIS WAY !!!

LMFAO!