Car rental in Skagway -- Can you drive to Carcross?

[Tinkrbell]

I have read many stories of peoples adventures when renting a car in Skagway and driving up to Carcross. Then somewhere else I read that you cannot drive a rental car into Canada. Now I am confused. Can someone please clarify this for us. I just rented a car from Avis in Skagway. Help!

[mringenoldus]

You can purchase the Murray Guide for $5 online. It will tell you what to look for milemarker by milemarker all the way to Emerald Lake.

 

At first, I rented from Avis - but then changed to Sourgough rental which was a much better deal. The owner of Sourdough will give you the same information as the Murray Guide. He also includes directions to Dyea.

[Mingus]

I have read many stories of peoples adventures when renting a car in Skagway and driving up to Carcross. Then somewhere else I read that you cannot drive a rental car into Canada. Now I am confused. Can someone please clarify this for us. I just rented a car from Avis in Skagway. Help!

A Canadian cannot drive an American rental car into Canada. :(

No problem for an American.......it's a great drive.

[Napi's Mom]

You can purchase the Murray Guide for $5 online. It will tell you what to look for milemarker by milemarker all the way to Emerald Lake.

 

At first, I rented from Avis - but then changed to Sourgough rental which was a much better deal. The owner of Sourdough will give you the same information as the Murray Guide. He also includes directions to Dyea.

Because of some comments here on CC I debated the Sourdough rental, but decided to stick with it. I DID ask him...what if the car breaks down...he SAID "it's only happened once" but admitted that you'd have to flag down the bus that runs down the hill regularly (or as someone quoted..hitch hike...At 67-70-& 77 it might be a challenge!!) Lucky my Jack Of all Trades DH would probably keep the car running. He didn't say if HE'D pay for the BUS,I think he should!! You can drive into Dyea Ghost town which you can't in the Avis cars.

[mringenoldus]

I didn't know there was a controversy on Sourdough rental. They have very good comments on TripAdvisor. They were about $30 less - so I think I'll stick with them unless someone knows something I don't!

[Napi's Mom]

I didn't know there was a controversy on Sourdough rental. They have very good comments on TripAdvisor. They were about $30 less - so I think I'll stick with them unless someone knows something I don't!

Exactly what I finally decided! Just hope we don't end up with thumbs out! Does anyone know what Avis's policy on breakdowns is??? The guy from Sourdough said "Well around here they handle it...you flag down a bus coming down the hill for a ride and we'll take car of the car..." made it sound like ALL the rental places did same. Can't get a liveperson at Avis on phone so just said..we'll keep the reservation with Sourdough!

[Tinkrbell]

Napi's Mom,

What do you mean when you posted that you couldn't drive into Dyea Ghost Town with an Avis rental?

[Yukon]

Napi's Mom,

What do you mean when you posted that you couldn't drive into Dyea Ghost Town with an Avis rental?

 

Avis does not allow their cars on gravel roads - the Dyea Road specifically.

[Yukon]

Does anyone know what Avis's policy on breakdowns is??? The guy from Sourdough said "Well around here they handle it...you flag down a bus coming down the hill for a ride and we'll take car of the car..." made it sound like ALL the rental places did same.

 

That's precisely the situation - we have to take care of each other here :) (the bus or whatever that picks you up won't charge anything)

[Tinkrbell]

How long is the gravel road to Dyea? Can you at least hike into the town?

[flames9]

Some Canadians CAN drive from the USA into canada with a rental--Ones like myself that are Non-residents of Canada (Still a Cdn citizen, but A USA citizen--but I consider myself 100% Canadian,lol)

[dfitz]

We just got back from our cruise, we were in Skagway on May 27. Rented through Avis, got a new Toyota Corolla w/ just a few thousand miles on it for $108, cost of gas was about $25. If you use Avis, be sure to google for discounts ... we had an AARP discount. Expect a bit of a line, but it moves pretty quickly.

 

I'd reqd a mid-size car, and got the Corolla which was fine for 3 of us. They also had a lot of new Camry's. The car I saw that must be their compact, was definitely small.

 

The town of Skagway is very touristy feeling, and w/ 3 ships in while we were there, crowded/busy. We found a good Thai restaraunt called Starfire where we had dinner before returning to the ship, appeared lots of locals eat there. Ran out of time so didn't get to hike, but heard the hiking trails right out of the port area are beautiful.

 

We drove a little ways beyond Carcross. Beautiful scenery, saw bears grazing on the side of the road. May is beautiful w/ snow and lakes not completely dethawed. It was nice to have a destination, we did a saddle/paddle on Spirit Lake (about $85pp incl lunch), Spirit Lake is off the road a bit and has pretty colors similar to Emerald Lake (which is viewable from the hwy). There's also a dog camp where you can do wheeled cart rides for about $35pp no reservation reqd. Carcross is very small, we just drove through it (we aren't much for shopping). There was a beautiful beach area on the lake while we were there, very windy though, so didn't stay there long.

 

Keep your eyes open during the drive, we spotted bears in 2 different locations. When you pull over to watch, they couldn't care less and continue grazing or whatever they were doing.

 

I'm still working on my pics, but plan to post more soon.

 

Other posters addressed the situation of Canadians not being allowed to cross w/ rental cars, as US citizens it was no problem for us, just carry passports. We didn't have a wait at either border, either ... there were quite a few tour buses that had to wait in the parking lot at the border, we were across in the matter of 2-3 minutes.

[Yukon]

We didn't have a wait at either border, either ... there were quite a few tour buses that had to wait in the parking lot at the border, we were across in the matter of 2-3 minutes.

 

The buses are in the parking lot waiting for train connections. When it's border-crossing time they're on the highway the same as you (though in a different line that doesn't have a roof to go under :) )

[kenish]

How long is the gravel road to Dyea? Can you at least hike into the town?

 

If you're a good hiker...I think it's about 10 miles from Skagway to Dyea. We were on bikes and turned off right before the pavement ended about 2 miles outside Skagway. It's a nice gravel road but still violates the rental contract. FYI, even on paved roads I've read the "loss of use" charges can be horrendous. Cars sometimes have to be shipped away to get repaired and they lose a month of revenue when the entire season is 4 months. So be sure you have good coverage, preferably on your own or through your TI policy.

[Yukon]

How long is the gravel road to Dyea? Can you at least hike into the town?

 

There isn't a town, just some cemeteries - and it's over 6 miles each way.

[dfitz]

The buses are in the parking lot waiting for train connections. When it's border-crossing time they're on the highway the same as you (though in a different line that doesn't have a roof to go under :) )

The border crossing from Skagway to Yukon seemed very mellow ... we were through so quickly didn't notice what they were requiring of the buses, just that there were a lot of buses in the lot :) When we crossed the border by bus from Vanc to Seattle, all bus passengers and luggage had to be unloaded from the bus ... luggage was checked and passengers had to walk through customs and show passports ... are bus passengers not required to do that at the customs between Skagway and Canada?

It seemed silly when we had to do it between Vanc and Seattle and really slowed things up.

[tetleytea]

It shouldn't be an issue, but there was construction going on the Alcan highway to Whitehorse, and you could only drive on gravel. I would hope Avis doesn't have an issue with that, but if you intend to go there you may want to ask.

[Yukon]

When we crossed the border by bus from Vanc to Seattle, all bus passengers and luggage had to be unloaded from the bus ... luggage was checked and passengers had to walk through customs and show passports ... are bus passengers not required to do that at the customs between Skagway and Canada?

 

No, that's not done here - I was very surprised to have it done on our QuickShuttle between Vancouver and Seattle.

[Yukon]

It shouldn't be an issue, but there was construction going on the Alcan highway to Whitehorse, and you could only drive on gravel. I would hope Avis doesn't have an issue with that, but if you intend to go there you may want to ask.

 

There's almost always some gravel due to construction, and Avis doesn't mind (if they did, they'd be out of business pretty quick).