I have driven it many times in all seasons and I never got a single photo as good as that one. The road is largely paved now, and the driving is mostly not too bad, if not good in proper weather conditions.
My advice is:
Don't go alone. You'll want to share this excellent trip with someone, and you may need a second pair of hands for something or other along the way. If you are going in cold weather take really good cold weather gear and throw some sleeping bags inside the vehicle in case you have to wait a while in a broke down vehicle. Take bug dope and maybe headnets if you go during mosquito season. If I tried to describe summer mosquitos at the Yukon River or on the north slope, you'd never believe me.
Take extra gas if you can, but don't worry about this too much. There are a few stops near the south end where you can get more, but Coldfoot (which is about half way, or 250ish of the 500 miles) is the furthest north you can hope for services of any sort. Do not drive north of Coldfoot without a full tank, or at least 300 miles range. There is a gas station and various hotels/camps in Deadhorse (north end of highway) where you can get a room and food and vehicle services.
Take a couple of spare tires and the tools and knowledge to confidently change a spare. I had a coworker driving a pick-up with a trailer who got 5 punctures on a single trip. I have never had any, but the possibility exists and fixing a flat is likely to be difficult, time consuming, and require the kindness of strangers.
Take a CB radio. Mostly the truckers are on channel 19, and if they can't help you they can pass along your call for help. There are a few Dept. of Transportation facilities along the way as well as pipeline pump stations. Everyone out there knows what a remote place it is, and help is available but you'll probably get it a lot faster with a CB.
The worst weather for the drive is hot, dry, and dusty. On the unpaved parts you can lose visibility for a long time when a trucker passes you going either way. Also watch out for motorcycles (and bicycles!) in the summer months. You might be shocked at how many you see. That's a bit risky because the big rigs kick up huge rocks on the rougher portions of the highway. A softball sized rock at 50 mph can wreck the front of a truck but I'd hate to see a cyclist catch one. Speaking of that, expect to get your vehicle hit by lots of rocks.
The best weather is in the eye of the beholder. If I was going to pick my favorite, I'd try to go in cold temps in late-winter (March-April) and spend a night at Coldfoot so that you get maximum daylight for driving. You definitely want to be in daylight going over Atigun Pass. The cold will make it not so slick, which is also an advantage at Atigun (which can be terrifying). Also, there is much less traffic in the winter. Maybe that's just me, but I always tell people who want to see Alaska to come in the winter (but they hardly ever do).
Oh yeah, there is a ton of wildlife to be seen along that road, especially north of Atigun. There are no trees that far north (besides a couple that people planted just to be contrary) so you can see a long way and animals don't have any cover. You are nearly guaranteed to see muskoxen and caribou once you are on the north slope. There are tons of arctic foxes around Deadhorse and lots of bears. Warning- foxes up there carry rabies at pandemic rates (like 90%) so really, really do not feed them or play with them! There are lots of bears, but you usually have to be pretty close to the coast to see polar bears.
When you get to Deadhorse, it would be helpful to have some sort of map with you already. It isn't big or complicated, but trust me on this. You can't drive anywhere near the coast. The oil companies have checkpoints and security set up on the two roads that enter the oil lease lands. At the Prudhoe Bay Hotel (by the airport) you used to be able to sign up (and pay) for a tour bus ride. That is the only way to get to the Arctic Ocean unless you work up there and have a valid badge. If I were taking friends up, I'd pay and ride the bus without a second thought. The "outlaw" bikers that ride up every summer have been known to make a stink when they find out they can't take their motorcycles into the oilfield area or to the sea.
If you happen to see a polar bear (I never have and I have looked A LOT!) be really seriously careful and report it to someone who looks official. Besides tigers, PBs are about the only carnivore on the planet that will just plain hunt down and eat a person. When one is spotted in the oilfield, security literally tracks it every where it goes. Workers up there have been killed.
I was there one time when a non-polar bear managed to wander into the Prudhoe Bay Hotel, but mostly you find them trying to get into dumpsters if they can smell food. The non-polar bears mostly leave people along, but I don't take any chances.
Cheers,
Bugenhagen
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