Trip Summary Trip Dates: Jun 06 - Aug 14 Start - End Locations: Missoula, MT - Anchorage, AK Days: 70   Rest Days: 11   Level of Support: Self-contained Surface: Road/Dirt Riders: 14 Type: Self-Contained   Meals: Shared cooking Accommodations: Camping Physical Difficulty: Advanced+   Airport: Missoula, MT/Anchorage, AK Cost: $3899 Booking Status: Closed

The North Star expedition dishes up everything you could want in a self-contained bicycle adventure, and more. You’ll enjoy some of the world’s most magnificent scenery, view a host of wild critters, and come in contact with some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet as you visit small communities, Indian villages, and mining towns.

Beginning in Adventure Cycling’s hometown of Missoula, Montana, the journey continues north for some 3,200 miles, crossing British Columbia and the Yukon before finishing in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Home to the highest mountain in North America, 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, Denali encompasses over six million acres of sub-arctic ecosystem inhabited by large mammals like grizzly bears, Dall sheep, and moose. Between Missoula and Denali you’ll experience a great deal, including a string of the world’s most scenic national parks: Glacier, home of the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road; Waterton Lakes, Glacier’s sister park in Canada; Kootenay, which, surprisingly, has both glaciers and cacti; Banff, Canada’s first national park and home to world-famous Lake Louise; and Jasper, billed as the “Gem of the Canadian Rockies.”

However, the real adventure begins once we’re north of the national parks and the “civilized” world. From Jasper, we’ll head northwest on the Yellowhead Highway through logging and ranch country en route to the Coastal Mountain Range and the Cassiar Highway, known for its solitude, beauty, and lack of services. The companion towns of Stewart-Hyder may tempt us into taking a picturesque side trip along a 40-mile access road squeezed between towering mountain ranges and glaciers. Back on the Cassiar, we’ll pass through the tiny First Nations village of Iskut, and cross the Stikine River to Dease Lake, the largest town along the highway.

As we head north on the Campbell Highway from Watson Lake, the realization may finally sink in that this is truly wild and isolated country we’re pedaling through. The Campbell, which is predominantly gravel for 300 miles, meets the Klondike Highway near Carmacks. Here we head for Dawson City, the former gold rush capitol and still a major town. This area is the setting for Jack London’s classic novel of the north, The Call of the Wild. At Dawson we’ll cross the Yukon River and join the Top-of-the-World Highway. As the name suggests, it is a very high road, and mostly of gravel surface.

The town of Tok, Alaska, situated at the intersection of the Alaskan and Glen Highways, is the regional outfitting center for hundreds of miles around and also known as a major hub of sled-dog racing. From here the route heads west and north to the Denali Highway, which is short on traffic but long on incredible scenery.

As you will learn, Denali National Park and Preserve is about much more than its namesake mountain. The park encompasses a dynamic, glaciated landscape that supports a variety of wildlife, including wolves, ptarmigan, eagles, and caribou. To access many of the park’s wonders, most visitors have to travel entirely by park bus—but you can shuttle your bicycle into the park on the bus as far as you like and ride back.

The spectacular beauty of the landscapes, the challenge of the isolation, and the encounters with a variety of wildlife make the North Star truly the adventure of a lifetime.

For more detailed information, see Self Contained trip logistics.