Emerald Lake, Skagway - Alaska NCL Pearl

[wintercolor]

We are sailing NCL Pearl, in August. We plan to rent a car and drive up to Emerald Lake. Please share your experience if you have done the same. What would you recommend and what to skip. Any place that's not to be missed and where did you stop for lunch? I'm so looking forward to this trip - can't wait!

Thanks in advance!

[triptolemus]

Not mine, but check out this great review with pictures that includes Emerald Lake.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2447252

 

Might give you some ideas about the road trip up and back.

[dexddd]

We did exactly that, rent a car and drive up. We went first thing in the a.m. and quite a bit of fog going up. One nice bathroom break was the desert area. Not much up there other than scenery. Weather by Emerald Lake was clear and beautiful. Canadian customs took a bit as one of the buses was there at the same time.

 

We were back down and walked around town early afternoon. There are places to eat but we probably got back onto ship around 2-3 and ate on ship.

[Minoushka]

We are sailing NCL Pearl, in August. We plan to rent a car and drive up to Emerald Lake. Please share your experience if you have done the same. What would you recommend and what to skip. Any place that's not to be missed and where did you stop for lunch? I'm so looking forward to this trip - can't wait!

Thanks in advance!

Yukon is fabulous loved it

Emerald lakeis awesome ...carcross ...teenie tiny desert

Just drive enjoy the scenery ...

[hawkeyetlse]

The only real place to stop for eating/shopping is Carcross. Maybe you can eat something at the suspension bridge. Otherwise, take your time driving up, stopping often for photo ops. Lots of lakes and waterfalls and interesting road bridges and signs saying "Welcome to the Yukon" etc. and you will probably see the White Pass train pass by several times. Stop in Carcross for a longer break, eat something, then continue on to Emerald Lake and then do the same time on the way back to Skagway (if you're into photography, you may end up making a lot of the same stops a second time with the afternoon light).

 

You can either plan to spend the whole day doing this, or get back with a couple of hours to spare to explore Skagway (a couple of hours is really more than enough, IMO). While you still have the car, make sure to stop at the Gold Rush cemetery/Reid Falls just at the edge of town before the bridge leading to the Klondike Highway.

[dexddd]

I should have mentioned that there is a guide you can buy that will either talk to you as you go along the trip (you control the on/off) or you can also print it out. We did both but ended up having DD narrate as we went along. If you go on the Alaska ports of call section here I'm sure you'll find it with a little searching or do a google search. It was very inexpensive.

[MarleyMar86]

OMG do it!!! I had to beg and plead with my mother to do this on our mother daughter trip. She kept saying I was crazing renting a car and driving into a different country in the mountains. I finally convince her to do it and she said it was the most exciting part of our trip.

 

I rented from Avis on 3rd street and had great service. We brought snacks off the ship and later after we turned around at Emerald Lake we ended up stopping at a little lodge called Spirit Lake Wilderness Resort for a to go lunch. Im sure its a nice place but it was desolate when we were there and all in all kinda weird ( stuffed crows in the restaurant) and the food was kinda eh. Almost seemed like the setting for some horror movie. Maybe stop in Carcross there were a few pricey but decent looking lunch spots.

 

It is true that there was alot of fog and cloudiness when we were going towards Canada but the scenery is still beautiful. I would suggest leaving time on your way back to get the sunnier photos of the gorgeous mountains. Also I felt like the border crossing did take a bit of time. Also not sure when you are leaving but in September we were hoping for more animal life. We had hoped to see a bear or other animals and all we got to see were some Mountain goats wayyyyy up high on the mountain.

 

Bring Binoculars!!!

[Islandbuoy]

Seconding what evryone else has said:

Avis rental good

Fog on way back

Spirit lake resort food good.

Carcross

the desert

the lake

[hawkeyetlse]

I should have mentioned that there is a guide you can buy that will either talk to you as you go along the trip (you control the on/off) or you can also print it out. We did both but ended up having DD narrate as we went along. If you go on the Alaska ports of call section here I'm sure you'll find it with a little searching or do a google search. It was very inexpensive.

It's called Murray's Guide to the Klondike Highway. There is also a free version.

[CrabbyPatti]

We rented a car from Avis and drove from Skagway, to Whitehorse and back. Stopped many times and took pictures and enjoyed the scenery. We saw quite a large group of mountain goats. We went in May and still had quite a bit of ice on Emerald Lake. I had also printed off Murrays Guide for our trip. There were small places we could have stopped to eat, but chose to just stop and purchase a soda and off we went. Border crossing was a breeze but could be a pain if behind a bus! (I think only one car ahead of us when we drove up, none on the way back) We enjoyed the trip, got to see an area neither of us had been before!

[dexddd]

It's called Murray's Guide to the Klondike Highway. There is also a free version.

 

That's it - thanks.

[bee946]

The drive from Skagway up the South Klondike Highway is one of the prettiest in Alaska. Take your passports to get into Canada and see the Carcross Desert. We have not driven from a cruise ship but have driven the road twice when driving to Alaska. We have seen bear, porcupine, and eagles along the drive.

[umpisoccer]

I am hoping to convince my wife to let me rent a car and do this on our 25th anniversary trip on the Bliss next July. Hopefully you guys can help me convince her it is safe and worth it.

 

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[Dejagirl]

We did this too. We also drove around Dyea to take in more sights/history (the start of the Chilkoot Trail). We stopped at the local grocery store before we headed out of town and bought sandwich makings - but maybe you can bring stuff from the ship. We had a picnic lunch in Carcross under the ship skeleton.

[hawkeyetlse]

I am hoping to convince my wife to let me rent a car and do this on our 25th anniversary trip on the Bliss next July. Hopefully you guys can help me convince her it is safe and worth it.

It's as safe as driving in your hometown in the early morning… Most of the time you will probably be the only car on the road, but if anything goes wrong, another carload of tourists will come along within a few minutes.

 

It's a straight shot from Skagway to Carcross and to Emerald Lake, along a perfectly maintained highway the whole way. You would really need to try hard to get lost.

[Weetahbugdotcom]

We did this too. We also drove around Dyea to take in more sights/history (the start of the Chilkoot Trail). We stopped at the local grocery store before we headed out of town and bought sandwich makings - but maybe you can bring stuff from the ship. We had a picnic lunch in Carcross under the ship skeleton.

 

 

 

Ship skeleton?

 

 

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[Planmaam]

Thanks for sharing. We will be going to Alaska again next May, and my DH made this trip once before for an excursion with a friend to golf and I did not go along. He has wanted me to see this ever since. Needless, we will use the information here to be able to do this when we go.

 

THANKS!!!!

[The Other Tom]

Don't forget your passport because you'll be leaving the US and going into Canada.

[Planmaam]

Don't forget your passport because you'll be leaving the US and going into Canada.

 

Thanks, Tom. Will do!

Oh, will a passport card do for CA?

[shadowmeboy]

Thanks' date=' Tom. Will do!

Oh, will a passport card do for CA?[/quote']

 

Yes, a passport card will work for Canada.

 

Any WHTI compliant document will be acceptable.

[Dejagirl]

Ship skeleton?

 

 

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Yes, it's what's left of the S.S. Tushi.

 

It's a freight & excursion paddle wheel that traveled between Carcross and Taku Landing from 1917 until it was beached in Carcross in 1955. It was being restored, almost completed, and burned in 1990. So they built a steel skeleton to show its size and where it would have sat. The bow of the ship is still there.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Dejagirl