Skagway to Emerald Lake. Driving.

The last time we rented a car in Skagway it was cold, wet, and windy one of those nasty days. We drove up the summit and it was clear, about 75 degrees. We drove all the way up to Whitehorse, had a wonderful time. Coming back we hit fog so thick I could barely see the bus that was 10 feet in front of us, he had his flashers and that was about all I could see. That was what you’d call a ”White Knuckle” drive, it was like that from the White Pass summit to just about Skagway.I guess now Avis has a mileage limit so you aren't supposed to drive any further than Emerald Lake.

I guess now Avis has a mileage limit so you aren't supposed to drive any further than Emerald Lake.

I reserved a car last week and my reservation says “unlimited” mileage

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I reserved a car last week and my reservation says “unlimited” mileage

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Same here ... we'll play it by ear as we tend to make a lot of stops for photos and like to take our time.

Does anyone have suggestions on places to grab a bite to eat in Carcross or Whitehorse?

Following.. I would also be interested in any lunch suggestions

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I rented a Jeep from a company that included a CD tour. It was great. Easy drive. We stopped on way at a sled dog place. Can’t remember Jeep company name but if you google Jeep tour you should find it. Walked to Jeep from the ship.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi,

 

I rented a car in Skagway and drove up Emerald Lake last September. The road was really easy and there was no traffic!

I preferred to rent a car vs the bus or train to be free to stop anytime for pictures and to enjoy scenic.

My daytrip highlights were: the Emerald lake, Carcross, and Carcross’s desert (the smallest desert in the world).

 

If you’re interested I wrote an article to describe my DIY Yukon daytrip: daydreamunderthestars.com/2017/11/20/the-yukon/

 

Let me know if you have any questions

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Marie

Marie - thank you so much for your review and wonderful pictures. We also have a car rented to drive to Emerald Lake. I am reading all that I can and know that I definitely want to do the DIY car trip. We planned to zip line early that morning but have been advised that cars to sell out if we don't pick up early, even though we have one reserved. I am now researching and re-reading all that I can to decide if we should find somewhere else to zip line and enjoy the full day with the car. I want to do everything and I am so bad at these decisions!

I think you will love the drive from Skagway to Emerald Lake...and you might want to consider going just a bit further as we did!

We have done this drive twice...first time in early June 2014 and because it was so spectacular we did it again this past May (2017)! We used the free version of Murray's Guide and it worked fine. I'm sure there is much more to the paid version, but when you are trying to read as you drive AND watch the scenery, the shorter version was fine.

By going early in the summer, the mountains still had a heavy blanket of snow and were so beautiful. And on each drive we saw multiple bears...they like to munch on the dandelions on the side of the highway! Once we had to stop when one of the bears was standing in the middle of the road and instead of being scared, he slowly walked over to our car, put his paws on the hood and looked at us through the windschield!

This past May we made a stop at the Tagish Lake Kennel which is run by Michele Phillips (a finisher in last year's Iditarod) and then went another 15 miles past Emerald Lake to the Robinson Roadhouse. It was like stepping back in time and we were the only ones there!

Not sure how late your ship is in port that day, but since we were there later (9:00 pm I think) we were able to do a flight over Glacier Bay in the evening AFTER the long drive. Yes...we packed a lot into that one day!!

I have posted quite a few photos of each of our days in Skagway on my blog plus some videos as well. If you are interested, the links to the blog posts and the videos are below:

Hi,

 

I rented a car in Skagway and drove up Emerald Lake last September. The road was really easy and there was no traffic!

I preferred to rent a car vs the bus or train to be free to stop anytime for pictures and to enjoy scenic.

My daytrip highlights were: the Emerald lake, Carcross, and Carcross’s desert (the smallest desert in the world).

 

If you’re interested I wrote an article to describe my DIY Yukon daytrip: daydreamunderthestars.com/2017/11/20/the-yukon/

 

Let me know if you have any questions

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Marie

I'm several months late to the party, but I really enjoyed this read (though the link didn't work at first)! Thank you for sharing.

I'm several months late to the party, but I really enjoyed this read (though the link didn't work at first)! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Jeremiah!!!! I'm glad you liked it:)! :):)

We rented a car and drove from Skagway to Whitehorse and back. Wonderful drive. Blue Ridge Parkway has more turns than this.

We did this drive last month with our avis car - it was such an EASY drive!! it took us 5.5 hours round trip to emerald lake and back..but only because we stopped alot.

We also rented a car and drove the highway last month (June 2018).

One of our favorite excursions we've done. It was so nice to be on your own time and schedule.

We went as far as Emerald Lake. We considered going to Whitehorse and seeing the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. I think we could have done it, but it might have been too stressful to enjoy. Ultimately, we decided to stop at the Tagish Lake Kennels to see the puppies and do a sled run, stop in Carcross for lunch, and made the turnaround at Emerald Lake. We went straight to Tagish without stopping and easily beat the buses.

Had plenty of time to stop wherever we wanted on the return trip. The pull offs were more crowded than they were in the morning, but it was worth it to avoid any crowds as the kennel (it was starting to get a bit crowded by the time we left there).

Easy drive.

I would suggest stopping at Lewis Lake. It's right off the highway (you have to go down a dirt road -- just keep driving down it and park when it gets to the point where it's too rough to continue).

Hardly anyone goes down there. Beautiful area, yet secluded despite being right off the main highway.

Not much past Lewis Lake though. Whitehorse is boring. I'd suggest Lewis Lake as a turnaround point (it's past Emerald Lake).