When I was researching route options for our motorcycle trip to Alaska, I noticed several ferry ports connected by the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), including Whittier, Haines, and Skagway that also connected to traditional land-based highways.

I filed this information away in the back of my brain and planned a route without the AMHS because I didn’t want to be beholden to the ferry schedule, and I wasn’t sure we would have time.

What is the Yukon-Alaska Golden Circle Route?

When we stopped at the Kluane National Park and Reserve Visitor Centre in Haines Junction, Yukon, on our way to Alaska, the AMHS ferry question presented itself again. One of the park rangers told me about a loop called the Golden Circle Route that offered phenomenal scenery.

Since we were in Haines Junction, he recommended completing the loop as follows:

• Start in Haines Junction, Yukon
• Ride to Haines, Alaska
• Catch the AMHS ferry to Skagway, Alaska
• Ride to Whitehorse, Yukon
• Circle back to Haines Junction, Yukon

We had already ridden the Whitehorse to Haines Junction leg of the loop so completing the circuit piqued my interest. Later that evening we met a couple at the Mile 1016 Pub who told us that the road from Haines Junction to Haines was the best in the Yukon. I added this to the expanding file in my brain, wondering if it would be possible to incorporate this loop into our route on the way back home after all.

Fast forward a couple weeks of riding through Alaska’s highlights, including Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Homer, Seward, Kenai Fjords National Park, and Fairbanks. Heather and I talked through the logistics of adding the Golden Circle into our itinerary, ultimately deciding that we should go for it since we don’t know if or when we’ll be back in this area, especially on a motorcycle.

Decision made, we began looking into ferry reservations. The online reservation process was easy enough, and before I knew it we were heading back to Haines Junction, Yukon to catch the loop.

Golden Circle: Haines Junction, Yukon, to Haines, Alaska

The ride from Haines Junction to Haines was as good as promised and was my favorite of the trip. The weather was perfect, the road was in excellent condition and the scenery was amazing. We were surrounded by towering snowy mountains and perfectly calm alpine lakes.

The border crossing back into Alaska was uneventful and we arrived at our lodging in Haines in time to walk downtown and explore a bit. Haines was very laid back, and we really enjoyed our time in this town.

Our experience at Haines Brewing Company was lackluster, but we had a good dinner at The Lighthouse Restaurant and ended the evening with an excellent tasting at Port Chilkoot Distillery. My pillion even decided to purchase a piece of unframed art in order to challenge my packing abilities for the remainder of the trip (spoiler alert: the art made it home unscathed, but not without some close calls).

Golden Circle: Haines, Alaska, to Skagway, Alaska

The next day we took the short ride to the ferry dock and lined up behind some other motorcycles. At check in we were given a piece of paper to tape to our windshield, showing the crew that we had paid and were to disembark in Skagway.

The ferry arrived on schedule and the crew starting directing vehicles to load. The motorcycles were loaded last and backed into spots wherever they would fit between the cars and steel structure.

The ferry site explicitly states that motorcyclists need to bring their own tie downs. I carry one lashing strap for emergencies, but we made a quick trip to Walmart when we decided to take this route so we were fully equipped with tie downs. When I asked one of the ferry crew about securing the bike with tie downs, he made a face that indicated I was being ridiculous and said that wouldn’t be necessary.

Based on our ferry experience, I’d offer the following tips for motorcyclists:

• The paper ferry tickets are designed to lay under the windshield of enclosed passenger vehicles. It’s never a bad idea to ask for some extra tape to properly secure the ticket under your motorcycle windshield, particularly on windy days.
• Be careful when maneuvering a motorcycle on the steel ferry deck and watch for the raised yellow domes throughout the deck that are used as tie down points. 
• Years of motorcycling on the vast Washington State ferry system taught me to leave the bike in gear on the side stand and secure the front brake with a hair tie or something similar.
• They jammed the bikes pretty tight together on the ferry, which was fine until the gentleman next to me got in a bit of a hurry and stood his bike up vertically while mine was still on the kickstand. This caused his aluminum saddlebag to remove some of the paint from my saddlebag. Be aware of your surroundings when parking and moving your vehicle around other vehicles.

We enjoyed a pleasant ferry ride to Skagway and saw several large cruise ships in port as we arrived. It was clear that this wouldn’t be as laid back as our time in Haines. The advantage to being last on the ferry is being first off so we headed up the ramp to to our Airbnb which, thankfully, was tucked away on the outskirts of town. That evening we ventured into the main area to try Klondike Brewing Company and do some cruise passenger watching.

The following day we boarded the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad for a narrated trip up White Pass. The gold rush history and relics along the route were very interesting, and we lucked out again with great weather to enjoy the mountain scenery. During certain sections of the train ride we were able to see the Klondike Highway, which we would be riding the next day.

After returning to Skagway, we visited the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, which had interesting stories and artifacts as well as a film covering the history of this area. We found one full day in Skagway was sufficient and ready to set out on the final leg of the Golden Circle Route.

Golden Circle: Skagway, Alaska, to the turnoff for Whitehorse, Yukon

The next morning we headed north out of Skagway and enjoyed more mountain and lake views.

The big benefit of riding the Klondike Highway versus experiencing it from the train was the ability to stop for pictures. I’m glad we were able to experience White Pass using both methods of transportation. 

Overall the Golden Circle lived up to the hype, and I’m grateful to those who recommended it. The combination of good weather, nice roads, and great scenery made this one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.