August 4, 2024
Depending on the cruise line, Skagway, Alaska is a likely candidate for the last port day of the trip. There is no better way to end the land explorations than a nearly 3300 foot climb up a mountain pass on the Klondike Highway. Saddle up because I have quite the challenging bike ride for you!
Okay this is going to sound crazy, but the original motivation behind this ride was that I wanted a picture of the “Welcome to Alaska” sign. I didn’t realize at first that it was at the summit of White Pass on the Klondike Highway on the border of Alaska and Canada. At first I didn’t even consider the possibility of biking up the highway. I looked into renting mopeds but it was too steep of a hill for them. Next I looked at bike tours that bus you up and then you get to ride down, but the vans didn’t take you all the way to the sign. My last option was just taking a tour bus up the highway. That didn’t feel adventurous for us though.
We really wanted to bike somewhere in Skagway because we found this rental shop, Sockeye Cycle, with the coolest logo I’ve ever seen. And you can’t buy logo gear from a place you didn’t bike in, right? We planned to bike from Skagway to a neighboring town of Dyea 10 miles away. After more research and driving the road during one of our excursions, we found out that the entire road was a dirt and gravel road filled with potholes. Instead, we finally discovered that we could actually bike up the Klondike Highway. Despite it being a highway, it’s rather quiet traffic wise.
I have never ridden an e-bike before and I don’t typically recommend taking them on a ride. However, we only had three hours to return our rental bikes before the shop closed. I wasn’t feeling confident that I could climb 14 miles and make it back on time on a regular bike. I definitely didn’t want to slow the rest of our party down either. So ultimately my sister and I decided to go with e-bikes while my husband and brother opted for regular road bikes.
Let me tell you, within about 2 miles I have never been so grateful for my decision. There is no way I could have climbed this pass, even without the three hour time limit. This ride is very similar to climbing Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Outstanding views, but a constant, unforgiving uphill for all of the 14 miles.
The highway starts climbing just after the turn to Dyea Road about 2 miles from Downtown Skagway. There is no real shoulder but the speed limit is only 40 MPH. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be as the few cars passed. Shortly after the start of the ride, we ditched the slow boys and tested out the e-assist features. I was surprised that I still actually had to pedal as much as I did. I was more picturing a moped type feeling. But my legs were still tired at the end of the trip and I still felt like I had actually gone on a real bike ride.
At mile 6 you’ll cycle by the US Customs and Border Patrol. Make sure you bring your passport for the ride down! I was surprised to see customs so early in the ride-we were still almost 10 miles away from the Canadian border. There’s some great turnouts to take advantage of throughout the ride. At mile 9 keep an eye out for a large waterfall close to the road on the left hand side. The spray hits the road in case you need to cool off! My favorite turnout was the large turnout at the Captain William Moore Bridge at mile 10. This is a great water break, snack and picture spot. Enjoy the break because you’re about to head into the hardest climb section of the ride.
Miles 12-14 were the steepest, hardest parts of this ride and remember this is coming from someone on an e-bike! At this point my sister had used a decent chunk of her bike battery. We definitely did not want the bike to die (those things are heavy!) so we had to try and conserve what we could.
We decided to turn around when she hit 20% battery left, but I knew there was no way we were quitting so close to the sign. We had previously read that the sign was 16 miles away from Skagway and I was really dreading those last couple of miles. Thankfully our information was wrong! We reached the summit of the pass, keep a lookout for an elevation sign on the right, just before the 14 mile mark. You then coast down a short hill to a dirt turnout with the sign on the left. We even timed it perfectly in between tour buses so we had it to ourselves for all our photo taking.
The summit is absolutely gorgeous and we would have been so disappointed had we turned around early. The best part about a grueling all uphill ride? The ride back is all flying downhill of course! Luckily we also made up some time thanks to our speed so we easily made it back to the rental shop before closing.
We passed our boys when they were only about a mile away from the top. They were even more ecstatic than we were to hear the sign was at 14 miles instead of 16. I couldn’t believe that they were so close behind us. Absolutely confirmed that I would not have been able to keep up with them on a regular bike and would have missed the summit!
Be sure to watch for gravel around the corners on the way down. Here is when you turn off the e-bike, enjoy the vast mountain views and just cruise. The Klondike Highway roughly follows the tracks of White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad so keep your eyes peeled for glimpses of the train cars. This route is known as the scenic railway of the world and is the most popular excursion in Skagway. The tickets are pretty expensive and they do sell out quickly which is why we opted for bikes instead.
After we returned our bikes and while we were waiting for the boys, we went across the street to get everyone a post-ride snack. After cycling I always crave a nice salty snack and we knew the boys would be hangry of course. They finally made it back to town and didn’t look like they enjoyed themselves nearly as much as we did. Pretty much every business seems to close in Skagway at 5pm. So while we missed exploring the downtown shopping area, the ride was 100% worth it. We headed back to our cruise ship to reward ourselves with pizza and ice cream.
Helpful Hints
- Don’t forget your passport! Although we didn’t actually make it to the Canadian border which is at mile 15, you do have to go through customs on the ride back to town.
- Highly recommend an e-bike for this climb. But if you choose a regular bike, the boys recommend you opt for a nice bike, ideally with drop handlebars. They said the ride is so hard that having a light bike really helped.
- The views on this ride rivaled Glacier National Park which is really saying something. If you’re interested in another challenging ride click here. And don’t miss out on other Alaska rides here.
- Before our bike ride we went on a dog sled ride. A team of real sled dogs take you on a short ride in a golf cart looking vehicle. Afterwards we got to meet some puppies and learn about the Iditarod. Sadly I wouldn’t recommend this excursion. It was a VERY short sled ride for the high price. Very much a tourist trap. Next time I would consider shelling out the money for a real sled ride on snow instead.
- Skagway is a shopper’s paradise. After experiencing all the tourist trap stores in the other ports, these shops felt much more authentic and local.
- Don’t miss the famous Red Onion Saloon which was installed backwards when it was moved in 1914. The old train depot now serves as the National Park Visitor Center.
Fun Facts
