Part road trip, part competition, and all adventure—the Alcan 5000 rally takes competitors on an epic 5,388-mile journey through some of North America’s most remote and spectacular terrain, from Washington state to the Arctic Circle and back.
As we motored down Alaska’s Denali Highway, glaciers appeared on the horizon, tucked neatly between distant mountain passes.
This was an optional “Extreme Control” route on the Alcan 5000 Rally, and it made me think about how much of an adventure this road rally really is.
What Is the Alcan 5000 Rally?
Part road trip, part time-speed-distance (TSD) road rally, the Alcan 5000 is North America’s longest road rally. The biannual event alternates between summer and winter like the Olympics.
Every several years, there’s a bonus rally (like this year) to even out its cadence. The 2026 event will be another summer event, with 2028 being a winter rally.
I was the driver, and my wife, Mercedes Lilienthal, was the navigator. This would be our fourth Alcan 5000 and second summer version. We partnered with Honda this year and drove a 2026 Passport TrailSport as our vehicle of choice.
It would make a great Alcan rig as it has plenty of power from the new 3.5-liter V-6, more than eight inches of ground clearance, and scads of creature comforts.
The only modifications made were a prototype Rally Innovations light bar mount and Baja Designs Squadron lights.
In 2024, we won the 2S class driving an INEOS Grenadier in the Alcan 5000 Winter Rally. Could we have a 2S class repeat in the summer in a Honda?
The Alcan 5000 features several time-speed-distance (TSD) competitions along with massive amounts of travel in what amounts to competitive road tripping.
You’re guaranteed an incredible mix of driving, camaraderie, scenery, challenges, and adventure. Most Alcan 5000 TSD stages are a mix of dirt, gravel, and pavement.
The rally starts in Kirkland, WA, and typically goes to Quesnel, BC for the first night. From there, the route changes each year.
This time, we’d go north to the Arctic Circle in Yukon Territory, over to Valdez, AK, up to Fairbanks, and then back to BC heading south to finish in Williams Lake, BC. Total scheduled mileage: 5,388.
Ready, Set, Go!
On September 2, 17 four-wheeled entrants and 12 motorcycle competitors left Kirkland destined for adventure. After a morning TSD, we crossed into Canada.
The drive to Quesnel is scenic, and took competitors through mountain passes and across deep canyons. Then it was on to an afternoon TSD near Williams Lake. At the end of the day, we were 1st in class, and third overall.
The next morning, we started with the Blackwater Road TSD, a wide dirt thoroughfare among a pine forest. We did fantastically and moved to 2nd overall and stayed 1st in class.
Now we had a 10-hour transit to Fort Nelson, BC, and we got on the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, BC. By the end of the day, we counted five black bears and one dead moose. Wildlife is definitely a hazard on the Alcan 5000.
A Clutch Delivery
Friend, author, and fellow traveler, Pablo Rey, and his companion, Marta, had transmission problems on their Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon—which is also their home.
Four days before we left for the rally, I saw Pablo’s post about his breakdown on Facebook. I told him, ironically, we’d be in Fort Nelson and, incredibly, we had a spare clutch to donate.
Mercedes and I rolled into town, delivered the clutch to Pablo and Marta and in exchange, I got a copy of his latest book, On the Wrong Path. By the time this article publishes, hopefully they’ll be on their way south. This was our first step building up “road karma” on this trip.
After our morning rally, it was a 610-mile trek to Whitehorse. We passed through my favorite scenery on the route. We saw bison, incredible mountains, and the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, YT.
We found our rally rhythm, scoring well in the TSDs, and locking in on endurance driving. It’s exhausting yet enthralling, and it was only day three.
Construction Season, Dawson City, and the Arctic Circle
There are two seasons in this part of the world: winter and road construction. We sat in line for 30 minutes at a time waiting for pilot cars to take us through massive construction zones, complete with blasting areas and gigantic earthmoving equipment.
The frontier town of Dawson City was in our sights. We arrived early enough to celebrate our friend Christian’s birthday with others.
The night delighted with drinks, dinner, tales of the road, and unrivaled camaraderie. The shared experiences on a journey like this bonds people; it’s one of the event’s superpowers.
The next day we ran our first optional Extreme Control route. We traveled up the infamous Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle.
The Dempster can be a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde affair in summer. One moment you’re in sloppy mud, the next it’s dusty with low visibility. The one constant? A relentless rough road.
In fact, we encountered a trio of German tourists in a rented RV with double flat tires. They didn’t speak much English, but Mercedes is fluent in German. Our rally group had air tools, a floor jack, an air compressor, a tire patch kit, and a small army of people to help get them back on their way.
After patching one tire and installing the RV’s spare, they asked how much they owed us. “Nichts,” she said. (Nothing in German.) They couldn’t believe it and were beyond appreciative.
After a group photo, they headed south, us north. We made it to the Arctic Circle that afternoon, possibly being the first 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport to reach the destination.
Throughout the day, other rallyists got flat tires, and we built up more road karma by helping a stranded motorist heading southbound from Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
While it slowed our progress back to Dawson City, it’s the right thing to do in such remote places—you don’t leave people out here. We got back to Dawson City at 9:30pm that night, skipping dinner in favor of shuteye.
Into Alaska
The next morning, we crossed the Yukon River by ferry, ran another TSD, then drove the Top Of The World Highway.
We entered into Alaska at the Poker Creek-Little Gold Creek border crossing. The guards said they usually only get 30–40 people day, but the rally would increase it to over 60.
Top Of The World turns into Taylor Highway as it winds its ways through rolling hills, the town of Chicken, and rejoins the Alaska Highway at Tetlin Junction.
It was opening day of moose season, and hunters were buzzing about. We were headed to Tok, AK.
After a quick TSD in Tok and lunch at Fast Eddies, we started south toward Valdez. On the way out of town, Jesse and Debbie Hires’ #4 Jeep Grand Cherokee had a bad vibration after washing their vehicle.
Large deposits of calcium chloride-infused mud had built up inside the left-rear wheel. We pulled off to an old carwash and scraped it out, creating a big pile of dirt.
About 224 miles later, we reached a very rainy Thompson Pass. In 2024, this road was closed twice in both directions due to a blizzard. Thankfully, there were no delays this summer.
Towering peaks, waterfalls, and distant glaciers made this feel like a far off, exotic like New Zealand or Iceland. We rolled into Valdez, grabbed dinner, a drink, and much-needed sleep.
The morning TSD in Valdez was tricky, however, we did alright and headed back over Thompson Pass enroute to Fairbanks, AK.
The direct route is only 363 miles (a short day on the Alcan 5000), but the rally’s second Extreme Control route would take us on the Denali Highway making our day longer, but amazing.
The Denali Highway
This route’s epic Alaskan beauty was made more incredible by striking fall colors. Despite being weeks away from fall at home in Oregon, Alaska’s autumn was in full regalia.
The road was littered with behemoth potholes and large frost heaves, but the scenery made up for the bad road.
The 135-mile Denali Highway was flanked by a landscape carpeted in hues of dark red, yellow, and orange and framed by towering mountains with glaciers peaking sliding out of valleys.
It was a highlight, and somewhere I’d like to return to. In fact, the Alcan 5000 is a tasting menu for traveling this region. You see a little bit of a lot, giving you a sample of things you might want to revisit in the future.
We rolled into Fairbanks early enough for dinner and drinks with friends and a restful night’s sleep at Bear Lodge.
Already Leaving Alaska
Two days in Alaska isn’t enough, but we had a rally to run. After the morning TSD, more construction delays, and Canadian customs, we headed south on the Alaska Highway back to Whitehorse.
We nicknamed this section of road the Frost Heave Highway. Caused by the freezing and thawing permafrost, these rollers were the worst of the trip. They took our Passport TrailSport’s suspension from full droop to full compression, while avoiding potholes the size of moon craters.
There were plenty of potential pitfalls; it was exhausting. We arrived late, skipped dinner, and went right to bed (again). The rally’s grueling pace and difficult conditions can be a struggle, and past the midway point, we were feeling its effects.
To Telegraph Creek
Another morning, another TSD, this time in tricky traffic in Whitehorse. This was our worst performance, but there was no time to cry about it—we were heading to Dease Lake, BC then to Telegraph Creek, our third Extreme Control. We slipped into 4th place in the 2S class, however, we hung onto our cumulative 2nd overall place.
We pulled into a gas station before the Cassiar Highway (never pass gas on the Alcan!), and ran into Amanda and Patrick from Rugged Destinations fueling up their JDM Nissan Safari—small world!
We then helped #15, Greg Bronowski and Jim Feehan, patch a tire on their Ram 2500 before trekking to Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek.
Saying the shale and dirt road to Telegraph Creek scenic is like calling the Alcan 5000 a quaint drive: Telegraph Creek is amazing. It’s 136 miles round trip with endless turns, elevation changes, steep cliffs, rivers, mountain goats, and beautiful vistas.
It got dark and rainy on the return trip to Dease Lake, and we employed our Baja Designs Squadron lights in the low visibility.
Driving the wet dirt road meant we had to stop to clean grime off our head- and taillights, which became opaque with muck. It was another late night, but well worth the trek.
We departed for Smithers, BC the next day, doing our fourth Extreme Control—Mitten Forest Service Rd.—through thick pine forests.
We were surrounded by picturesque mountains and arrived in Smithers early enough to get a steak dinner and relax. We were thrilled to have real food and a slower evening.
September 12 was the rally’s last day. It would finish in Williams Lake. First, we had to do an exhaustive 60+ mile TSD back on Blackwater Rd.
This time we were heading south, not north, however. Livestock were in the road, there were flooded segments, and abundant curves made it a doozy.
Then we had to run the Soda Creek TSD again, but backwards, as the event’s last stage. We nailed two perfect checkpoints, and cemented another class win and a second-place overall finish!
An Incredible Adventure
I can’t emphasize how much of an adventure the Alcan 5000 Rally is. Part road trip, part competition, and all lunacy, it’s full of life experiences waiting to happen.
This rally crams a ton of experiences into just 11 days, including abundant wildlife and majestic scenery, and new friendships and newly discovered places. It may sound like a long trip, but it’s over before you know it.
Interested in Alcan? There’s another summer rally in 2026, and winter in 2028. Registration is open for the ’26 rally at Alcan5000.com. Maybe we’ll see you at the starting line.
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