Roadside to Marion Creek: Dalton Highway

By Dave Briggs · Published 2009-07-25 · Last updated 2026-07-19

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Today I met other cyclists for the first time when cycling in Alaska. Today's entry covers the journey to the Marion Creek Campground

Cycling to Marion Creek Campground

(Blog post written: Sat 25 July 2009)

There you go, thinking you're all special and adventurous cycling down the Dalton Highway, and you see three other cyclists. Not that this deflects from my specialness or adventurousness of course!

The first two that I met were English and Australian who were cycling together, Cass and Dan. They were heading north to Deadhorse, and it seems we must have camped only a few miles apart overnight.

We swapped notes on our respective roads ahead, and after chatting for a while, went on our ways.

Koko the Japanese Cyclist

The third cyclist I met was a Japanese guy called Koko, and I met him at the end of my days cycling at Marion Creek campground. He was also heading north, and is into year three of his around the world cycling trip. Jealous? Me?

Anyhow, the days cycling wasn't easy, and wasn't tough, but somewhere in the middle. The semi-skimmed of cycling. Joe, the driver who had taken me in the bus to Deadhorse, passed me in the morning and gave me a drink.... Cheers mate !!

A couple of hours later, a random lorry driver coming in the opposite direction also gave me a much welcomed bottle of cold water. Those two acts, combined with the round of applause I received from a minibus full of tourists made the day go well.

Checking out Wiseman

I cycled off the Dalton Highway to a small settlement called Wiseman, but after a brief look around, I decided it wasn't all that, and cycled off again. Here's a photo though.

Marion Creek Campground

I decided to pull off the Dalton Highway at Marion Creek campground as opposed to going the extra five miles to Coldfoot, and I'm glad that I did. The campground is ideal for the cyclist - It has picnic tables, fire pits an outhouse and a pump for water.

I was so impressed, that I even treated my body to a session with the sponge and water, which is the closest its gotten to having a shower these last five days.

I made a campfire again both to cook with and to keep the mosquitoes away, who for some reason like biting me right on top of my head the little bastards. I talked with Koko quite a bit during the evening.

Dave Briggs
Dave is a UK travel writer living in Athens since 2015. With 20 years of firsthand travel experience and over 80,000 km of bicycle touring across six continents, he's been blogging at Dave's Travel Pages since 2005. Every guide is based on places he's actually been.

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