Drive time between Anchorage & Talkeenta?
 

How long does it take to drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna? Has anyone made this this drive recently? Thank you.

I'd say somewhere around 2hr - 2hr, 30min. It's only a rough guestimate, though. I've driven Denali to Anchorage, but its been awhile and I can't remember specifics.

That sounds about right.

Anchorage to Talkeetna
 

We drove Anchorage to Talkeetna last Friday and returned on Saturday.

Just over half of the drive is on 4 lane controlled access freeway.
Getting through Anchorage can take a bit of time. Depending on time of day, day of week, it can be bumper to bumper getting out of town.

It is roughly 120 miles from the Anchorage airport to Talkeetna.

I tend to drive fast on highways. Had to drive slow in Anchorage. If you want to do it in two hours and 15 minutes (both ways) like we did, you will have to be prepared to drive 5 miles an hour over the speed limit and pass other tourists on the two lane highway.

Plan for 2.5 hours and relax.

Nobody has mentioned the season we are in right now. It's called Road Construction. With that & the fires, I would add 30-60 minutes just to be on the safe side.

duplicate

The drive between ANC and Talkeetna took 2 hours 40 minutes Thursday evening. There wasn't any construction work going on but an accident (Eagle River area) and police watching for speeders in Wasilla slowed everything down.

max 3 hours

Wow - I must have had it easy!
 

I can see how it could take longer than two and a half hours. Accidents, construction, heavy traffic, and vigilant police.

I guess I was lucky. Had none of the above.

Some of that is because we did the trip before the tourist season was fully in swing.

Caution - If you don't drive on two lane highways often, be very careful passing. Better to relax and be safe.

If you are being passed, it is bad form to speed up while being passed. I had to get my little Ford Escape up to 90 MPH to get around some folks who were doing 55 MPH when I made my move. Not the first time this has happened.

The best way to assist people passing (I do this when pulling a fifth wheel trailer) is to take your foot off the gas when being passed. For some reason or another, if you don't let off the gas, your vehicle naturally speeds up as someone passes you.

Great advice! It would be nice if people actually used this tip. (Maybe it's due to a change in perception--being passed makes you feel like you're going artificially slow or something. I wouldn't know, as I don't think I've ever been passed, at least not on a two-lane road...:p)

You don't get passed to often when you're doing 130 MPH! :p (Or even more on the highway! :D)

Unfortunately, the fastest car I've ever driven was governed out at 115mph...:D

Drove it two days ago - July 7, 2007. Takes 2.5 hours, 115 miles at the speed limit. Do not speed as police patrol the route and there is radar in the small towns on the way.

If you had two choices Anchorage to Talkeenta or Anchorage to Seward - I would do Seward. Same distance and much better scenery. Plus Seward is a larger/better town.

I second that.

And with the wet and cloudy summer we've been having so far, the main attraction of Talkeetna (which is not its Northern Exposure-esque qualities), Denali, likely won't be out in all its majesty.

I third the recommendation for Seward. It makes for a great day trip by train, too--ride down, six hours in town, and ride back. But a car works great, too--look into the half-day (or full-day, if you're adventurous) Resurrection Bay (and surrounding glacier/fjord) cruise options.