Alaska 511 Road Cameras: Live Map & Driving Guide

Driving in Alaska means accepting that the road can change completely in 30 miles. A bare, wet stretch along Cook Inlet can give way to a whiteout on a 2,600-foot pass, and the gap between a sea-level town and a nearby summit is often the difference between an easy trip and a closed highway. The best way to know what you're driving into is to look at the road first, and our live Alaska camera map pulls the state's official Alaska 511 feeds into one fast, searchable view so you can do exactly that.

The network includes roughly 144 traffic cameras and about 79 RWIS road-weather stations. Because so much of Alaska is roadless, those feeds concentrate on the connected highway system that links the state's communities. This guide walks through the major corridors and how to use the cameras and road-weather together.

The corridors out of Anchorage

Almost every Southcentral trip starts in Anchorage, where two big highways diverge:

• Seward Highway runs south out of the city and onto Turnagain Arm, signed as AK-1 to the Sterling Highway junction and AK-9 for the final run into Seward — about 125 miles total. The Turnagain Arm stretch between Anchorage and Girdwood is avalanche-prone and gets ice, fog, and fast-changing weather, and the Alaska DOT occasionally closes it for avalanche control.
• Glenn Highway heads north and east as AK-1, a National Scenic Byway running 189 miles to Glennallen past Palmer and the road-accessible Matanuska Glacier, then continuing as the Tok Cutoff toward Tok and the Alaska Highway.

On the map, the Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley chips cover this commute and the climb out of the bowl. Tap one to see whether the corridor is clear before you commit.

North to Denali and Fairbanks

The George Parks Highway (AK-3) is the 362-mile artery between Anchorage and Fairbanks and the main road to Denali National Park and Preserve, whose entrance sits at Milepost 237 — about 237 miles north of Anchorage and 120 miles south of Fairbanks. The highway shares pavement with the Glenn out to Wasilla, passes the Talkeetna spur, and crosses the Alaska Range at Broad Pass before dropping into the Interior.

A few honest notes on Denali itself:

• Because of the long-running Pretty Rocks landslide, private vehicles can only drive the Park Road to Mile 15 (Savage River). Buses run farther out, but the Park Service has capped the 2026 season's bus destination short of the historic Eielson and Wonder Lake stops while a bypass bridge is built. Confirm current status with the National Park Service before you go.
• The Park Road and most park services are seasonal; the road is not maintained for winter through-travel.

The Parks Hwy & Denali and Fairbanks chips cover this run. Fairbanks sits around 450 feet but the routes leaving it climb fast — the Steese Highway tops Cleary Summit (about 2,233 ft) on the way to Eagle Summit (about 3,685 ft), one of the highest road passes in Alaska.

Valdez, Thompson Pass, and the Richardson

The Richardson Highway runs 366 miles from the port of Valdez on Prince William Sound up to Fairbanks, and it crosses Thompson Pass (about 2,678 ft) just above Valdez. Thompson Pass is the snowiest weather station in Alaska, averaging roughly 500 inches of snow a year, and the Alaska DOT closes it for avalanche control after big storms. The Richardson & Valdez chip focuses here — scan the summit cameras and road-weather before you climb into or drop out of the Chugach Mountains.

The Kenai Peninsula

The Sterling Highway (AK-1) leaves the Seward Highway at Tern Lake Junction and runs west through Cooper Landing and Soldotna to Kenai, then south along Cook Inlet to Homer — roughly 140 miles of fishing and recreation country along the Kenai and Russian rivers and through the Chugach National Forest. The Seward Highway tail also reaches Seward and the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Use the Kenai Peninsula chip and watch for inlet fog and snow on the Tern Lake and Cooper Landing stretches.

How to read the map

• Pair each camera with its road-weather station. RWIS readings come in degrees Fahrenheit and miles per hour, and in Alaska wind and pavement temperature often tell you more than the picture alone — pavement near freezing hints at ice even when the camera looks clear.
• Compare a pass against a town. Check Thompson Pass against Valdez, Broad Pass against Cantwell, or Turnagain Arm against Anchorage to see the real gap.
• Save your regulars. Favorite your Seward Highway commute or the Thompson Pass summit so they load first.
• Plan for winter. Limited daylight, extreme Interior cold, and long gaps between services mean a closed pass can add hours. Carry an emergency kit.

The cameras are a planning aid, not a substitute for official status — always confirm closures on Alaska 511 (511.alaska.gov). For a wider view, our road cameras hub links every state we cover, and you can jump straight back to the Alaska map any time. Heading farther south? We also map Washington's mountain passes and Alberta's Rockies routes the same way.