Alaska - if you figure just the drivable places, it isn't THAT big.....

[John E Davies]

Everybody says Alaska is huge. If you look at all the land, including the southwest  and southeast peninsulas, it is indeed vast. HOWEVER, for the average visitor who does not plan to fly all over it, the part with roads is what is important. It's hard to load your Ollie into a floatplane... 😉 Here is a scan of the 2021 Alaska Milepost map of that southeast corner, I cut and pasted the mileage scale onto it for reference. The only significant road north of that section is the Dalton Highway, 414 miles of heavily travelled (by semi trucks) gravel to Prudhoe Bay. Not many tourists venture that far.

Here is Montana, sized to the same scale as the Alaska one:

They may not come through with accurate sizes, so I placed AK  beside MT, and captured them together:

They are pretty much identical, so don't be fooled by the "Alaska is so big" warning. It is the getting there that takes so darned long. I plan to visit AK in the late summer, but if the borders do not open up I will just go explore more of Montana.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited April 8, 2021 by John E Davies

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Oh, yes it is!

Visiting from the states, you need to look at the whole picture.  That includes traveling one of several routes through BC and the Yukon before you set foot in Alaska.

There is also a great deal of off-pavement exploring to be done on AK roads that can be quite good.

I have made the trip eight times and do not feel I have scratched the surface of all that can be seen and done in Alaska.

[BackofBeyond]

Yep. Alaska is just a tiny little hamlet. That is why the wildlife look so big in comparison.

😜

[John E Davies]

7 hours ago, Neuman's said:

Oh, yes it is!

Visiting from the states, you need to look at the whole picture.  That includes traveling one of several routes through BC and the Yukon before you set foot in Alaska.

This is so true, especially if you are unfortunate enough to live in southern Florida😄. That adds around 3000 miles (one way) to the trip. From here in the Pacific NW it is not so terribly far. It’s 2150 miles to Tok from my front door, exactly the same as the drive to Hohenwald to pick up “Mouse”. Except there are no Interstate highways headed north from here, thank goodness. I stay off those by preference.

John Davies

Spokane WA