We stopped at this lodge to see what their price for gas was. It was 1.69 a liter ($6.40 a US Gallon). No thanks! We drove on and got it for $1.39 a liter ($5.26 per US gallon) at Whitehorse.
How much does gas cost? Will I run out?
A lot more than in the US! It worked out to be about $5.30 a gallon in most of Canada. We stopped at one lodge in the middle of nowhere on the Alcan but it was going to be $6.40 a gallon so we just kept going. The key is to plan your refuel stops for the major towns along the way so you don’t have to stop at those lodges in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t have any problem doing that because Judy’s van has a large tank and gets good MPG. The lowest her tank got was to a quarter and that was after 344 miles.
The campground we stayed at in Whitehorse had gas for $1.39 per liter. But they offered a 3% discount for campers, so we paid $5.10 a US gallon.
- Eureka, Montana
- Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia
- Hinton, Alberta
- Grand Prairie, Alberta
- Dawson Creek, British Columbia
- Fort Nelson, BC
- Watson Lake ,Yukon
- Whitehorse, Yukon
- Tok Junction, Alaska
- Anchorage, AK
The prices stayed right in the ballpark of $5.30 (in Canadian dollars or $5 in US dollars on my credit card) a gallon at all of them in Canada and $3.99 in Alaska. My guess is that most of us have enough range to comfortably go that far but double-check your Milepost if you can’t.
Of course in Canada everything is on the Metric system, so they don’t use gallons to price their gas, they use liters. To convert the price of liters to US gallons you multiply the price times 3.785. For example, the price for a liter of regular gas was pretty consistently around $1.40 a liter. If you multiply 1.40 times 3.785 that comes out to 5.29 a gallon.
As soon as you get to Alaska, gas prices become more reasonable. We had the range to get from Whitehorse to Tok Junction, Alaska, where we paid $3.99 a gallon. From Tok we easily made it to Palmer, AK where we also paid $3.99.
The key thing is if you can comfortably go 350 miles you won’t need to buy gas at the remote lodges , instead you can get gas at the larger towns where it will be much cheaper. If you can’t, you might want to consider carrying gas cans so you can.
Are things more expensive?
Yes!! Everything is higher in Canada even when you factor in the exchange rate. We had made it our goal to buy everything in the US we needed to get all the way through Canada without doing anymore shopping; and we did fairly well at that. It took us longer than we had planned to get through it (a week of driving) so we needed some supplies at the Walmart in Whitehorse. Some of the prices there were outrageously high and some were fairly reasonable. And of course it was mostly brands that we had never heard of before. The bottom line is to enter Canada with whatever you think you will need and don’t buy anything if you can avoid it.
Prices will also be high everywhere along the roads of Alaska except in the major towns of Anchorage, Fairbanks, Palmer, Wasilla, Soldotna and Kenai. Those town will have national chain stores (Walmart, Carrs/Safeway or Fred Meyers) which will all have fairly reasonable prices. Their prices in Alaska are higher than they would be Outside in the continental US, but there isn’t much you can do about that. The first thing I did was pick up the local Sunday paper to get the store ads. By shopping ads you can save a lot of money.
Of course all signs in Canada use kilometers so you are going to have to convert them. I carried a calculator and multiplied the number by .62. But if I just wanted a quick approximation, I did it my head. For example, this sign says I am 300 kilometers from Watson Lake. Round numbers are easy, all I have to do is divide it in half and a 10% (totally 60%). Half of 300 is 150 and 10% of 300 is 30 so it’s about 180 miles. The RVs crawling up the hills slowed you down quite a bit!
What are the speed limits? Are there many cops?
The speed limits in Canada are all pretty low, but fortunately, there are very few cops! Of course the speed limits are in Kilometers so you will have to convert them to MPH. Newer cars probably will have speedometers that have both (Judy’s van does) but if yours doesn’t, it’s pretty easy to do. All you have to do is multiply the kilometers by .62 to get the miles. To quickly rough it out take the KPH, divide it by half and add a little.
The most common speed was 100 KPH (nearly all 2 lane roads) which is very easy to remember because if you multiply it by .62 it comes out to 62 MPH. We only drove on a short stretch of 4 lane divided highway and it was 110 KPH. Of course as you go in and out of towns the speed varies. Here is a list of the most common speeds and their conversions to MPH:
- 110 kph = 68 mph
- 100 kph = 62 mph
- 90 kph = 55 mph
- 70 kph = 43 mph
- 50 kph = 31 mph
- 30 kph = 18 mph
Canadians have a reputation for being an especially polite, friendly and law-abiding people. And I can agree with that in every way except one; they do not obey the speed limits very well!! Being foreigners we stayed very close to the speed limits and the Canadians whizzed by us like we were standing still! Of course that’s what happens on American roads as well, but I hadn’t expected it here.
We decided to keep our eye out for cops to see how many we saw and the answer amazed us; we rarely saw a police officer of any kind! I think in the whole way across Canada we saw maybe 5 cops! And guess where we saw most of them? At a donut shop! Canada has a chain of restaurants called Tim Horton’s (that we fell in love with) and they are as much a donut shop as anything else and that’s where we saw 2 of the cops. Apparently the peace loving Canadians have so little crime there aren’t many cops and so they feel free to drive as fast as they want. That’s good because most of the roads are good and lightly trafficked so exceeding the speed limit is safe and gets you home faster!
The Canadians love icons on their signs! This one has a pair of tire chains to show you must carry chains certain times of the year. Some of them were so strange we never did figure them out.
LOL! And to think I always figured we had too many cops! Some places like the national parks and the big cities are worse than others I suppose.
Dan, I was never in any of your big cities on this trip so I don’t know about them. We were almost always on rural, out-of-the-way places.
Bob
my wife worked in canada for awhile and when all the canucks were going the speed limit there was always a cop.
peaceup raz
breud1903, that was my experience as well!
Bob
I’m the guy in front of you doing the speed limit. I guess I’ll have to be more careful about dodging the speedsters if the Canadians ignore the speed limits more than US people.
Calvin, yeah, we stayed pretty close to it as well. On the Alcan the tourists outnumber the locals and they are usually in lumbering RVs driving below the limit. When you get passed by a pickup going 20 over the speed limit with a lift and it’s filthy, you know that’s a local. From Fort St. John south there is a lot of oil, gas and logging and the diesel pickups just go flying down the highway.
Bob
When I lived in Canada in the early ’70s gas was sold in Imperial gallons, which are about 20% larger than the US gallon. My money came from the US and the US$ was worth about $1.25 to $1.35 in Canadian dollars. That meant I got a great deal on gas back then. On top of that, there was “farm gas” that wasn’t taxed. Farmers could get it for their machinery but weren’t supposed to use it in their cars or let others use it in their cars. It was dyed purple so some vague enforcement authority could tell whether you were using it improperly. But sometimes farmer friends would sell us some of their farm gas anyway.
As far as speed limits go I usually follow the “when in Rome” rule and drive like the locals. Or slower.
Driving like the locals seems to be pretty good rule of thumb.
Bob
Of course I am following you all in spirit, I am loving the posts! Makes me feel like I’m along for the ride. You two have visited some beautiful places along the way, I am jealous!
I did the Alcan in 1977 in a 10 year old chevy caprice or chevelle ( will search for my photos). I still remember it. The road was not paved at that time. I also remember Yellowknife, Jasper, Banff just to name a few. The Haul road at that time was not open to the public. .
To drive the Alcan again is on my bucket list for 2016
Opa, yeah, back in 1977 the Alcan really was an adventure. I’m sure it’s memories you will always treasure though!
Bob
Welcome to Alaska. I live in anchorage. This is Charlene Swankie’s sister. Hope u totally enjoy urself. Hopefully Charlene makes it up here again sometime. Have fun.
Hi Cheryl, thanks for the good wishes! Yeah, Charlene didn’t get to stay for long, maybe next time.
Bob
Ha gas is $4.07 outside Chicago. More in the city. You got a bargain in AK for$3.99 happy trails
Alaska produces lots of oil and has it’s own refineries so it’s not too bad.
Bob
It’s about $3.50 in the phoenix area. Good to know though, even though, I probably won’t be making a trip to alaska anytime soon.
The cheapest we’ve paid in Anchorage was $3.84, which actually pretty cheap.
Bob
Enjoyed your post, Bob! Yup, it costs a fortune to drive here in Canada. I live on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and gas is even more expensive here than the average, I guess because we’re a ferry ride away from the mainland. I had to laugh at your description of how to tell a local driver from a tourist…sounds familiar! We get swamped with tourists in the summer and there’s only one highway, most of which you can’t pass on, so I hate getting stuck behind the RV’s, especially when they’re from the flatlands of Aberta…they go extra slow on our curvy highway.
Peggy, I’m in Alaska now and that is also a huge problem, slow RVs with literally a hundred cars behind it. It’s against the law here, (posted often) to delay more than 5 other cars, you must use a pull-out and let them pass. And the Troopers DO give tickets for it!
Bob
I see rv’s and trucks pulling travel trailers doing the same thing in Arizona. The rule is to keep right, except to pass, but that doesn’t usually happen. Flashing your lights to pass when you are going faster than the car in front of you in the left lane is a rule of thumb, but people don’t seem to care about that.
Douglas, it’s a pretty universal problem. Flashing your lights is a good thing.
Bob
Stop having whatever fun you’re having long enough to give us more reports. 😉
Al, lots of rain means not much fun and a long ways between the internet.
Bob
Great pics as usual Bob. The mountain in the first pic must be HUGE because pictures never seem to do the real thing justice (and it looks very big in the pic).
Wow it’s paved now! I drove the highway in Feb 1975 and it was gravel or solid ice. I’d like to do it again in 2016, but in summer. If you are self contained do you need campgrounds or can you still just pull off the road in remote spot.
Jim, actually most people find it at it’s best in winter, I prefer to drive in then. Basically it’s paved the whole way. It’s not really black-top it’s chip sealed which is very nearly as good. The last 300 miles in Canada north of Whitehorse are always in pretty bad shape, they are a slow go.
Yes, the whole length of the Alaska Highway you can just pull over and sleep. A few of the rest areas are marked as no Overnight Parking, but there are a huge number that are not so finding a place to sleep is pretty easy.
Bob
Am travelling with RV in May 2016 for 6wks start calgary anchorage fairbank juneau yellowstone national park then toronto in between we doin lots of stops. I appreciate any comment
joelou, are you taking the ferry to Juneau then on to Seattle? If not where you will enter the US from? If you are coming from Seattle, there are numerous National Parks between there and Yellowstone and it would be a shame to just whizz past them.
That’s a lot of driving in a short period of time!! You’re just passing through, not really seeing those areas. You can do it but I prefer to slow down a bit and actually see things. Unless you can never travel again, I would choose one or the other this year, Alaska or the Lower 48.
Bob