Staying in Deadhorse

[divedeep]

I'm trying to find a room in Deadhorse tomorrow night - Thursday the 14th. Unfortunately everything in town seems to be booked. Tried calling Arctic Oilfield Hotel, Arctic Caribou Inn, Prudhoe Bay Hotel and the North Slope Borough - everyone is booked. Am I totally out of luck? Anyone know of other options? I would hate to call off the ride up there just because I can't find a place to stay. Thanks in advance for any help.

Dan & Kim

[AKtracks]

the tent down by the river. This is usually where I end up staying because I generally don't plan far enough in advance to allow for reservations.

[Alcan Rider]

It might be a bit more riding than you're prepared to do, but if it were me I'd see if I couldn't get a room in Wiseman for two nights, then leave early for Deadhorse and do the round trip up there and back to Wiseman. You'll find that coming back south is faster than going north - probably because you're going downhill (at least according to the map ).

[Frostbit]

This is about 70 miles south of Deadhorse and it beats the hell out of paying to stay in an ATCO trailer.

[Cubdriver]

Ditto on the camping suggestion. 80 miles south of DH is Happy Valley, which is a bit busy, but there are people around if you are a little wary of the wild animal situation. It is an airstrip witha few outfitters on it. they are also mning some gravel this month off the riverbed which makes for some noise. I f the idea of being alone does not bother you, skip my suggestion and just pick a place along the river.

[klrdave]

Cubdriver,
Where's the pics of your ride up there?

[divedeep]

Well I wish I had been able to read all these replies before I got to Deadhorse! As it turns out, we headed north without any room reservations - Deadhorse and Coldfoot were all booked up. My feeling was that we would figure it out along the way. We arrived in Yukon River Camp and went to fill our gas tanks. We were greeted with a sign that said they were out of gas until midweek. Luckily it happened to be midweek and the gas truck was expected in a few hours. So we had a meal and waited at the restaurant there. I noticed a sign there advertising Deadhorse Camp which said they had rooms available. What the hell, I gave them a call. They had a room! I booked it. Apparently Deadhorse Camp is the first place on the left as you enter town and houses lots of oil workers. This season they started renting rooms to tourists so that's why they are relatively unknown and had rooms available. For those non campers, you can reach Deadhorse Camp at 877-474-3565. Same deal as the other places - a sweet ATCO trailer.

I then called Coldfoot and asked if by chance they had a room for the evening - granted it was already about 5:30pm. All of a sudden they had a room too. I took this as a sign that our luck was turning and said I would take it.

Had I known what I know now, I would have taken all your advice, arrived in Deadhorse and then turned around and headed back south to camp along the way. As you all probably know, caribou season opened on the 10th so there are lots of hunters camping along the highway. I'm sitting in my sweet room at the Deadhorse Camp right now typing this message - good times. Thanks for everyone's feedback.