MOTORRAD TOURS: ALASKA AND THE ROCKIES
Great things that go together: Alaska, the Rockies, motorcycles and Motorrad Tours…
Like those cowboy movies, but on a motorcycle.
So what’s the story with Alaska? It’s vast. The roads stretch away to an ever-illusive horizon with nothing but unspoiled vistas hand-railing either side. There’s also a seemingly endless supply of corners in the mountains which will keep you focused and flowing from one frontier-town to the next. And the hospitality will blow you away – everywhere you go someone will have a story to tell, an experience to share or a guitar to break out. When is the best time to head to Alaska and the Canadian Rockies?
The riding season is short, typically running from June to September – the border crossing and Top of the World highway are closed to all vehicles from September to May.
What is the riding like? This trip is what modern adventure bikes are made for blending stunning tarmac roads with fantastic dirt and gravel passes. Whether sealed or gravel, the roads tend to be wide and well maintained. There are some big mileage days due to the size of the place, but the roads are built for covering distance.
‘Everywhere you go someone will have a story to tell, an experience to share or a guitar to break out’
One of the best roads to ride is the Lewis and Clarke trail – 99 miles of perfect winding blacktop. Other drivers are generally courteous and you’ll notice a number of big-rig logging trucks and touring motorcycles. There is a reasonable police presence and they do like to keep a check on speeds. They’ll also ask you at the border crossing whether you’re carrying drugs or guns – just remember that sarcastic answers are only funny until you get strip-searched.
Our favourite things about Alaska
and the Canadian Rockies? The incredible scenery followed by the sheer vastness of the place. Isolation takes on a new meaning after riding through miles of landscape populated by nothing more than trees, mountains and wild animals. It’s long journeys across wilderness like this that make rolling into a classic wild-west
style frontier town with clapboard pavements and saloons feel so special.
How isolated is it? The first day route notes include this: ‘After 196 miles, turn right on AK1 to Tok, then at 319 miles arrive at Tok.’ In that 123 miles there are a couple of tiny settlements, two places selling coffee and no turnings that aren’t dead ends.
Things to do and see… Nothing. Well that’s the beauty of this trip, nothing but unspoiled beautiful wilderness and brilliant scenery. We visit the Unesco-listed Head-smashed-inBuffalo-jump, Salmon Glacier, Bear Glacier and a host of National Parks. Frontier towns such as Dawson and Hyder are a proper step back into a simpler time. We’re talking long bars, sippin’ whiskey, saloon doors and the uncontrollable urge to swagger in and order drinks in a dodgy accent.
What about the food? Cinnamon buns. They are the perfect road snack especially when homemade and washed down with coffee. Find the best at Johnson’s Crossing, one of few fuel and café stops on the Al-can highway that remains open year round.
Evening meals are, as you’d expect, big and meaty. But there are surprises to be had along the way. Like wandering the dirt streets of an old frontier town, Dawson City, expecting to see John Wayne riding into view, but instead finding a Greek restaurant called the Drunken Goat. For fish and chips, the Seafood Express in Hyder, where they cook what they caught in the morning, is hard to beat.
What are the locals like? Bears, elk and deer easily outnumber human beings for most of the trip. That said, the people you do meet are friendly, welcoming and helpful.
How to get there from the UK? There’s no direct flight to Anchorage, so we recommend booking a return flight to Portland and then an internal flight over to Anchorage at the start of the tour – we finish the trip back in Portland.
What is the accommodation like? A mixture of great hotels and stunning en-suite log cabins make for some unique places to stay. Old-style frontier towns make up several of the night stops, along with two nights in traditional US travel motels; warm and friendly and the perfect way to round out the true American roadtrip experience. And we can’t talk about accommodation without mentioning the collection of lodges in Stewart that include a former brothel and a toaster museum. It’s fascinating what you can learn there about the different ways of heating bread.
The cost of the tour? Our ‘Alaska and The Canadian Rockies’ tour starts at £7395 for a solo rider in a shared room riding a BMW F700GS. This includes: ⏢ Accommodation ⏢ All breakfasts ⏢ Welcome and farewell dinners ⏢ Selected dinners
⏢ Airport transfers ⏢ Motorrad Tours tour leader ⏢ Motorcycle rental
⏢ Support/luggage vehicle and driver
⏢ Commemorative polo shirt ⏢ The protection of booking with a fully bonded tour operator. Why choose Motorrad Tours?
Alaska is just one of the regions we’ve been riding in for years and if experience has shown us anything it’s that Alaska and the Rockies are best enjoyed on a big bike capable of covering large distances with ease. Furthermore, three weeks is the ideal length of trip to fit it all in.
Motorrad Tours is an Ocial Travel Partner of BMW Motorrad. We operate a range of motorcycle tours throughout Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. You are welcome to ride any bike on our tours, but we always ride BMW. We are a fully bonded travel operator which means you can book confident in the knowledge that you will get what you pay for. Our touring style is about freedom – we provide route guidance notes, maps and GPS routes so you can choose to ride independently or with the Tour Leader, or swap and change. You have the freedom to choose.
‘It’s long journeys across wilderness that make rolling into a wild-west frontier town feel so special’