Cliff Bishop - Eighteen Wheels North to Alaska: A History of Trucking in Alaska

The Glenn Highway runs for 328 miles from Anchorage to Tok. The road runs from Anchorage to Glennallen and intersects with the Richardson highway at milepost 115, you then travel 13 miles to the left up the Richardson to Gakona Junction to milepost 128 where you turn off on what is known as the Tok cutoff, but is still designated as the Glenn highway, Alaska. # 1, this road runs for 125 miles to Tok where it intersects with the Alaska Highway.

The Elliott also branches off from Fox and continues for 70 miles to Liven-good and then for another 87 miles on to Manley Hot Springs.

The Parks starts from the Glen highway 35 miles north of Anchorage and continues for 323 miles to Fairbanks, when you add the 35 miles on it is a total of 358 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks. This Highway was known as the Anchorage Fairbanks Highway after completion in 1971, this road is the main route between Anchorage and Fairbanks and runs parallel to the Alaska railroad, it also takes you to the entrance of Denali Park. Most people believe the road is called the Parks because of its route into and past Denali Park, however it is named after George Parks the former territorial governor from 1925 to 1933. On a clear day you can get a wonderful view of Denali Mountain from the highway on this route.

The Richardson runs from Valdez to Fairbanks for a distance of 360 plus miles and is covered within this book from its beginning as a well used horse trail until the Army sent a truck from Valdez to Fairbanks in 1913, this truck made about 50 miles per day on this maiden voyage and opened up the trip to civilian use as witnessed by Bobby Sheldon's trip in the same year in a new Model T Ford Car, by 1920 motorized traffic was fairly common and Gene Rogge in 1929 opened the Richardson up to commercial traffic with His delivering 8 barrels of gasoline from Valdez to Fairbanks.

The Taylor begins 12 miles south of Tok off of the Alaska Highway at Tetlin Junction and ends 165 miles later at Eagle on the Yukon River, this picturesque journey takes you through the village of Chicken and the historic 40 mile mining district, you connect with what is called the top of the world highway 96 miles in from Tetlin and from this spot known as Jack Wade Junction the road continues on for 76 miles to Dawson City, Yukon Territory where it is possible to continue on to Whitehorse, Y.T. Take a turn to the left at Jack Wade and you are off to Eagle and the Yukon River, another trip that you will not soon forget because of the spectacular scenery.

The Steese extends for 162 miles from Fairbanks to Circle on the Yukon River, this road starts at Fox just out of Fairbanks.

The Denali was completed in 1957 and runs from Paxson on the Richardson to Cantwell on the Parks, there are huge areas visible to the traveler on this road and usually many animals can be seen such as Moose, Caribou and Bear, truly a spectacular stretch of road and a lot to be seen in only 135 miles of travel.

The Sterling is 142 miles long and was completed in the 1950s, it starts at Tern Lake off of the Seward highway and goes through Cooper Landing, and you are able to ride past beautiful Kenai Lake and also stretches of the Kenai River all of which are breathtaking, you travel on to Soldotna and past the road to Kenai which lies just off the Sterling highway you then continue on down toward Homer, part of the way while motoring alongside Cook Inlet with views of several active Volcanos across the Inlet, next comes Homer and a beautiful panorama of mountains and sea as you top the hill overlooking the town, you continue on down to what is known as the Homer Spit which extends 5 miles out into Kachemak Bay, at this point if you are to continue your travels it is necessary to get on board an Alaska Marine Highway ship to get to Kodiak or turn around and head back inland.

The Dalton Highway, also known as the Haul Road begins at Livengood and ends at Deadhorse. Coldfoot is at mile 175, Wiseman at mile 188 and Deadhorse at mile 414, the service road continues on to Prudhoe Bay.

The Alaska Highway runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska and enters Alaska near Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory, continues up through Tok, Dot Lake and on to Delta Junction where it officially ends and intersects with the Richardson Highway.