Hey All! Just read post in full-time living about making reservations and how most of you all don't worry too much about calling and reserving ahead. That sure alleviates some of the worry. But what about in Alaska ???? I'd think you would have to call far in advance, and make reservations at these campgrounds. Doesn't look like Alaska has many campgrounds listed in Trailer Life Directory.(any good web-site on campgrounds in Alaska?)
Does anyone have a good web-site for RV trip-planning to Alaska? I've read there are certain highways that rvers should use and stay on. Seems like towns are so far apart and that long hours and many miles would be spent when traveling from one place to another. Just wondering. We'd never let any of this stop us from going there. This area will be one of our RV-dreams.
Ann and Tom
(we went to Alaska on a family cruise 2 years ago. We rented a car in Anchorage and drove up to Denali and stayed a few days. We noticed on the road from Anchorage to Denali, which was a major highway, that they had paved and gravel pull-offs/overs.(about every couple of miles on each side)There were many rv's parked in these pull-over areas. You could tell they were over-nighting/dry-camping. We'd seen rv's at each pull-over area on our trip back to Anchorage,early that morning we had to leave. I question the safety of this...but seems like so many were doing it. Is this because of limited campgrounds...and no space.???)
Also, we saw tons of RV's in caravans. Just wondering how many of you go in a caravan or venture on your own when going to Alaska?
bjoyce said
10:05 PM Jan 27, 2007
For Alaska, northern British Columbia and Yukon you have the wrong campgrond guide. The one to get is Traveler's Guide to Alaska Camping by Mike and Terri Church, here is their website http://www.rollinghomes.com/Alaska%20Book.htm.
The book will spoil you.
We went to Alaska last summer and made reservations in advance around July 4th, since it is a popular time for the locals, and by Denali and Fairbanks. Mostly we just drove up and asked or called in advance when we had cell phone coverage (Cingular and Cellular One are the best in Alaska, nothing U.S. will work in Yukon). We did not have problems except that one campground was closed and we had to go on about 20 miles to another.
We went on our own and I recommend not taking a caravan. The caravans would drive bad roads in the rain, they would drive too far in a day (to keep your RV in good shape you need to slow down and that might mean 20mph in some places), and they ended too far south to go back to something you wanted to see more of. Going up with a group of friends with the agreement that once there you might not be together all the time was a popular way to go and seemed to work for many.
There are long stretches of lonely road, that is where the scenery and wildlife were best. I recommend having a camera with fast startup to catch the wildlife while traveling, mine was too slow.
-- Edited by bjoyce at 22:07, 2007-01-27
bjoyce said
07:50 PM Jan 29, 2007
Anywhere you see a lot of RVs camping for the night outside a campground means they are saving money and not that the campgrounds are full. In many areas in the lower 48 the Wal-Mart parking lot might have more overnighters than the campgrounds in town. Since the summer temperatures are reasonable and there is alot of daylight, dry camping in Alaska in the summer works well. Solar panels actually work quite well when the sun shines, you get about 60% of your solar maximum for many, many hours. The locals rarely use campgrounds, they seem to like to dry camp.
InflatableBoats4Less said
07:04 AM Jan 30, 2007
Bill's advice is right on the nose. We visited Alaska this last summer for two months without campground reservations. We met a couple in Prince George early in our journey who had reservations for every night of their 4 month trip. We kept crossing paths(not uncommon in a land with few roads) with with them for the next two weeks across BC and then lost track in Whitehorse...the first point you have a choice of going north or west in over 800 miles...! A month later we saw them again on a ocean side walkway in the Seward City Park campground, a gem we both had discovered. We were curious if they were able to stay on schedule and found out they cancelled all their reservations early in their journey when it was obvious that there were glorious cities where they wanted to linger and dismal stopovers it was best to take a pass. We had a faboulous unscripted Alaska Journey armed with the Church's guide book Bill mentioned; Milepost; and a laptop computer for research and cell phone to call ahead to check the lay of the land. We also bought a coupon book that offered two for one coupons for a variety of "must do" attractions across Alaska...a "must have!"
-- Edited by InflatableBoats4Less at 07:07, 2007-01-30
Hey All!
We'd never let any of this stop us from going there. This area will be one of our RV-dreams.
Just read post in full-time living about making reservations and how most of you all don't worry too much about calling and reserving ahead. That sure alleviates some of the worry.
But what about in Alaska ???? I'd think you would have to call far in advance, and make reservations at these campgrounds. Doesn't look like Alaska has many campgrounds listed in Trailer Life Directory.(any good web-site on campgrounds in Alaska?)
Does anyone have a good web-site for RV trip-planning to Alaska? I've read there are certain highways that rvers should use and stay on. Seems like towns are so far apart and that long hours and many miles would be spent when traveling from one place to another.
Just wondering.
Ann and Tom
(we went to Alaska on a family cruise 2 years ago. We rented a car in Anchorage and drove up to Denali and stayed a few days. We noticed on the road from Anchorage to Denali, which was a major highway, that they had paved and gravel pull-offs/overs.(about every couple of miles on each side)There were many rv's parked in these pull-over areas. You could tell they were over-nighting/dry-camping. We'd seen rv's at each pull-over area on our trip back to Anchorage,early that morning we had to leave. I question the safety of this...but seems like so many were doing it. Is this because of limited campgrounds...and no space.???)
Also, we saw tons of RV's in caravans. Just wondering how many of you go in a caravan or venture on your own when going to Alaska?
The book will spoil you.
We went to Alaska last summer and made reservations in advance around July 4th, since it is a popular time for the locals, and by Denali and Fairbanks. Mostly we just drove up and asked or called in advance when we had cell phone coverage (Cingular and Cellular One are the best in Alaska, nothing U.S. will work in Yukon). We did not have problems except that one campground was closed and we had to go on about 20 miles to another.
We went on our own and I recommend not taking a caravan. The caravans would drive bad roads in the rain, they would drive too far in a day (to keep your RV in good shape you need to slow down and that might mean 20mph in some places), and they ended too far south to go back to something you wanted to see more of. Going up with a group of friends with the agreement that once there you might not be together all the time was a popular way to go and seemed to work for many.
There are long stretches of lonely road, that is where the scenery and wildlife were best. I recommend having a camera with fast startup to catch the wildlife while traveling, mine was too slow.
-- Edited by bjoyce at 22:07, 2007-01-27
Since the summer temperatures are reasonable and there is alot of daylight, dry camping in Alaska in the summer works well. Solar panels actually work quite well when the sun shines, you get about 60% of your solar maximum for many, many hours. The locals rarely use campgrounds, they seem to like to dry camp.
A month later we saw them again on a ocean side walkway in the Seward City Park campground, a gem we both had discovered. We were curious if they were able to stay on schedule and found out they cancelled all their reservations early in their journey when it was obvious that there were glorious cities where they wanted to linger and dismal stopovers it was best to take a pass.
We had a faboulous unscripted Alaska Journey armed with the Church's guide book Bill mentioned; Milepost; and a laptop computer for research and cell phone to call ahead to check the lay of the land. We also bought a coupon book that offered two for one coupons for a variety of "must do" attractions across Alaska...a "must have!"
-- Edited by InflatableBoats4Less at 07:07, 2007-01-30