June 23 – 26: Top of the World & Taylor Highway

Open only in the summer, this 65 mile (106 km) drive follows a ridge “highway”, mostly gravel, with lots of potholes and washboard, but offering spectacular views of the Alaska Range. Starting in Dawson City, Top of the World ends officially at the US Border, turning into Taylor Highway (same road, same conditions, different name), which travels a short distance to the town of Chicken, then continues south to Tetlin Junction where it joins the Alaska Highway. Most continue on to Tok, a major stopping point for road visitors to Alaska.

We were fortunate to travel this road in excellent weather, with no troubles at all on the gravel surface. We stopped in Chicken for one night, then spent 3 nights in Tok.

We chanced upon a large bridge crossing the Tanana River at Tetlin Junction. An information spot nearby drew us in, and we discovered the history of this bridge. The original bridge, built in 1943, was the only one of its kind in Alaska – it’s called the “Tanana River 3-span cantilevered subdivided Warren steel through truss bridge”. It remained in excellent shape, but vehicles got wider and taller, and in 2010 it was replaced with a concrete girder style bridge. The inset picture in the info-board (below) shows the two bridges together. Today, only the concrete bridge remains, but a number of the original trusses are on display at the information rest-stop.