Rental car from Skagway to Emerald Lake?

[judynorth]

Scotty2,

 

Thanks. Just wait until you see the real thing! Pictures just can't capture the vastness of Alaska nor can words describe the beauty.

 

flpenguin,

 

It takes much less than a tank of gas to do the entire trip. After all, it is only about 65 miles or so. There is only one gas station in Skagway (unless they opened another one since last year) so be sure that you find out where it is from the rental car agency. It isn't on the main drag of the town.

 

I am so GREEN with envy!

[flpenguin]

judynorth-thanks for the quick reply-we leave tomorrow from florida to seattle and the onto vancouver on sunday for the serenade of the seas. just trying to think of things last minute.

[Budget Queen]

The Ca crossing in Fraiser, requires an id stop. I have been searched 2 of my last 3 trips over the past year. :) Never with the Us customs. You have 20 miles of BC until you hit the Yukon.

 

To Emerald Lake and back it's 150 miles, more than enough with one tank. Only gas is at State and Second- also the laundry mat I always use. :)

[kaimanu]

We will be in Skagway in one week (6/5) and I just now rented a car from Avis! The pictures are beautiful and to do it on your own sounds so much move inviting than the sometime cattle call of organized tours (not to mention the costs!). We arrive at 7am and the office opens at 8a. Since our ship leaves at 3p, I expect we will rush getting to the lake and then be more leisurely on the way back.

 

Thanks for the GREAT info!

 

Kai

[judynorth]

We arrive at 7am and the office opens at 8a. Since our ship leaves at 3p, I expect we will rush getting to the lake and then be more leisurely on the way back.

 

If you are at the rental car office a little before 8 am you can get your car and be on the road by shortly after 8. Nothing will be open in Skagway so don't bother trying to get into town earlier than that. There is only one "rest area" on the way to Carcross so keep that in mind. :o Have a great time. I'm sure that you will be glad that you made the choice to rent a car and drive yourself. We have done it both ways and enjoyed the rental car so much more.

[Cruzon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xavier2005

I think you'll find this link very useful - mile by mile guide to the drive

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/...e-photos1.html

 

Thank you sooo much for posting the link to this guide! We're sailing on the Vision of the Seas on August 25. The Vision has one of the longest port calls in Skagway of all the ships that visit there (7:00AM to 8:30 PM). We've already reserved a car with Avis to drive from Skagway to Whitehorse, a town my husband frequently visited while with the Army during the building of the Alaskan Highway. Before our cruise, we'll visit Dawson Creek, BC -- location of Milepost 1 of the Hwy. Brochures from there are disappointing to him -- they stress how modern the city has become. I'm sure he'll find the trip to Whitehorse more to his liking! The guide is just wonderful! Most of the places referred to in the guide aren't even on the maps I've obtained from AAA (including Emerald Lake).

 

Does anyone know where I can get more detailed maps of the area between Skagway and Whitehorse?

[momeason]

This drive is gorgeous all the way to Emerald Lake!! Be sure to stop in Skagway at the cemetery and walk up to Reid Falls from there, less than 5 minutes. Reid Falls was stunning last week!!

[winncove]

BQ..Avis is closed down when we go in Sept. & you don't recommend Sourdough. Do we have to skip the drive to Emerald Lake?

[Budget Queen]

These are the only 2 rentals available in Skagway. I just wish Sourdough would get it's act together??? Maybe they are too streached out with all their businesses??? Their cars are in so so condition, they take forever to get back to you when you email. About 50% of the time they answer their phone, I have never been called back by them when I've left a message, always had to recall.

 

But I was in the same situation as you, Avis wasn't open, or I would not have rented from them. I did mention the poor reviews on CC and suggested they might want to have their cars cleaner, but this last time when I made them aware of the gas milage problem, they didn't seem to be concerned.

[Jackie52]

We are a group of 6 Canadians who are considering renting a car in Skagway for the day to go to Emerald Lake. Is there some rule about Canadians renting and crossing the border? thanks

[Yukon]

We are a group of 6 Canadians who are considering renting a car in Skagway for the day to go to Emerald Lake. Is there some rule about Canadians renting and crossing the border? thanks

 

There sure is - you just can't do it (Canada Customs regulation) :(

[nansi]

you got an American to rent the car and drive....could the Canadians still ride along??

 

And Yukon Murray....your driving manual was awesome (I hate using that word, but it's the best adjective in this case)...we did the drive in May and we have some spectacular photos (people swear that we bought postcards and didn't actually take these ourselves). THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE! :)

[tinkerme1]

Are there any returning cruisers who could tell us about their trip to Emerald Lake? How was the weather, conditions on the road? I'm looking so forward to doing this trip very soon.:D

[Yukon]

you got an American to rent the car and drive....could the Canadians still ride along??

 

And Yukon Murray....your driving manual was awesome (I hate using that word, but it's the best adjective in this case)...we did the drive in May and we have some spectacular photos (people swear that we bought postcards and didn't actually take these ourselves). THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE! :)

 

If a non-Canadian (any nationality) drives, anybody can ride along. And of course, the non-Canadian only needs to drive for a mile or so on each side of the Customs office :D

 

And THANKS - I really glad that you found it useful.

 

Murray

[Yukon]

Are there any returning cruisers who could tell us about their trip to Emerald Lake? How was the weather, conditions on the road? I'm looking so forward to doing this trip very soon.:D

 

The weather 2 days ago was cool with high clouds, and there is a fair bit of road construction going on right now.

 

Murray

[sprinkles]

We drove to White Horse on May 26th and it was awesome. We had sunshine most of the day - great pictures of Emerald Lake. It took us about an hour to get to White Horse from Carcross. Only spent an hour in White Horse (all we wanted was to find the Harley Davidson dealership and get some t-shirts, lol). White Horse was easy to get to, we did stop and pick up a map in Skagway from the tourist office, but we would have found it anyway. There was construction work in several places , but it did not cause us any problems. By the way, using Yukon's guide (THANKS!) we kept our eyes open in the areas he said to look for bears and lo and behold on our way back in the afternoon we found one coming down from the hillside. Watched him go all the way to the side of the road - LOOK BOTH WAYS!!!- then run across.

 

Had a great time, our best pictures were on that drive.

 

Tammy

[momeason]

We did this drive, thanks to Murray's guide, on May 25. The weather was bright and sunny, there was lots of snow, but not on the roads. It was 70 degrees and the road was fine. There was construction but no real delays. Emerald Lake is really Emerald color. The terrain and scenery keeps changing. We loved it. The photos are amazing. I agree with Yukon on the suspension bridge, not much to it. We did visit the one in Vancouver instead. We did the cemetery and Reid Falls just above the cemetery in Skagway as an afterthought. It was spectacular with the snow melt!!

[wa.mama]

Are there any returning cruisers who could tell us about their trip to Emerald Lake? How was the weather, conditions on the road? I'm looking so forward to doing this trip very soon.:D

 

We did this trip on May 28 and it was beautiful. Saw black bears right where Yukon said they would be! (Did you plan that?) We were at Avis early and had no traffic on the way up. BTW, check out your car before going. One of ours had a brake problem with smoking and burning - was scary on the way down, but we had no cell service up there to call for assistance.

[gloriashelton]

Since we will be doing this trip in September, can you tell me the location for the best place to see bears? Thanks.

[Budget Queen]

Since we will be doing this trip in September, can you tell me the location for the best place to see bears? Thanks.

 

 

Very very unlikely on the Klondike Highway. If a priority look at a fly in to Traitor's Cove out of Ketchikan.

[TeeBuccs]

Just returned from sailing and my husband and I rented a 4-speed small pick up truck in Skagway. We drove the Klondike Hwy into the Yukon. Although our truck was slightly "beat up", it ran just fine and was a nice smooth ride. (We did find a couple stranded on the side of the road who's car broke down, but we used our satellite phone to call the rental place to come pick them up.)

 

The road to Emerald lake is an easy drive. Tons of great places to pull off for photos. Keep a dilligent eye out for wildlife - we saw many dall sheep and brown and black bears in May. In fact, on two occassions we pulled off to observe bears dig under rocks along the roadside. They didn't seem too concerned with us and we were fascinated with watching them and taking photos.

 

Re-entering the US will take longer and you will answer more questions than when you enter Canada. Not quite sure why, but just be prepared with passports, etc. Don't miss stopping at CarCross - the little general store is a nice stop for soda or ice cream and to take a stretch break. Emerald lake is simply amazing. Follow Murray's guide to driving the Yukon and you won't miss a thing! His guide is wonderfully done and very informative.

[jltpeke]

Does the ship take your passports when you board? Can we get them back when we leave the ship in Skagway or do we need to take extra copies? Thanks in advance, Jodi

[TeeBuccs]

Jodi -

 

You will maintain your passports the entire time. Once you arrive at the cruise ship pier, customs will look at them and hand them back. In our cabin we kept them in the room safe until we went ashore in Skagway. As you cross into Canada you will make a brief stop at the border and be required to show them again as well as crossing back into the U.S.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[badgerboy]

We just did the trip as well. We rented from avis out of Skagway, and when we told other people on the ship what we were doing, those that had booked itineraries were jealous and those that had nothing booked decided to rent cars as well!

 

Absolutely no worries about the drive. Couldn't be simpler. Other than keeping your eyes on the road amid all the amazing scenery, it is just like any normal 2-lane highway.

 

Don't forget your passport as you do go into canada. Not a big deal, they just ask for your i.d.

 

Not a lot of places to eat along the way, so plan accordingly.

 

Caribou Crossing was a strange little tourist trap for us. Very odd and not very appealing. We did chuckle at their "mini-golf course" composed of TWO holes! ha!

 

We also chuckled when we got to the new suspension bridge mentioned in Yukon's guide. About three cars in a row pulled off and started to walk towards the complex when we were stopped by a young woman who informed us it would be $18.50 per person to walk across the bridge. After picking our jaws off the ground we all had a good laugh, drove to the far end of the parking lot to look at the creek and bridge for free, wondered who in their right mind would pay $18.50 to walk across a 20 ft bridge and drove off. Priceless.

[jltpeke]

Thanks for the information, TeeBuccs! We leave 6/25 from Seattle on the Star and we're getting so excited. First cruise and first time to Alaska. Plus it's already really hot down here in Texas already (upper 90's), so it will be really nice to be in some cooler weather. Thanks -- Jodi