I have noticed in many RV blogs as well as in this forum, many of you do not like to reserve in advance for many good reasons but I have a specific question in mind regarding this.
In June I will be renting an RV in Alaska for two weeks. I have everything already planned out and where I will be going, etc. The only thing I have not done is reserve the campgrounds. I have done this for a couple of reasons. First, I do not know if I may like a place particularly well and want to stay a couple of days and two, I may change the itenirary (sp?) if there is bad weather in the place I am at or going to.
My problem though is that Alaska basically has 90 days of mass tourism then it dwindles down. To  me this also means that the campgrounds may be full if I do not reserve ahead of time.
What is this groups experience in this area, I would love to hear from you all.  Should I reserve or risk the chance that sites will not be available. We will be moving about every third day. Main points of interest will be arriving in Anchorage, going to Seward, Talkeetna and Denali.
Thanks!

If you know exactly when you will be there and what you want to see, then it would seem to be prudent to make your reservations now. Alaska is a HUGE place and if the weather isn't to your liking, it's quite a trip to wherever it might be different. As far as campground quality goes, it's somewhat more rustic up there and you have to be prepared for less bling. In the end though, you are not there to sit in the campground, there's so much to see. I would recommend checking RV Park Reviews for guidance as to campground quality. You'll love it, Alaska is really special.

During the summer months, if we want to stay in a particuliar RV resort or campground, especially if a weekend is involved, we always make reservations. There have been a couple of times where we decided to take a chance on getting a spot and ended up having to drive around to a few campgrounds/resort to find a vacancy. One night we ended up driving about 100 miles beyond our original planned stop before we found an empty campsite.

I did a very similar trip in 2005, renting from GreatAlaskaHolidays in Anchorage. The only place I pre-reserved was Denali (because I wanted to camp inside the park rather than at the "dirt parking lot" commercial campgrounds at the entrance to Denali. I booked my site at Teklanika online and was very glad I did-- it was a fun place to camp and saved a good hour or two of driving had I stayed outside the park. I decided not to reserve any other sites and take my chances on "serendipity" even though it was mid-July and the height of tourism season. I'm glad I did. Alaska is huge and there were tons of sites available. Yes, in a few places I didn't get to stay exactly where I wanted (for instance, all the waterfront sites in Seward and Homer were already taken, but those sights are not reservable anyway), but beautiful USFS campgrounds were plentiful, never more than half-full, and never too far away. So, I'm glad I left things more flexible. My favorite find was a wonderful newer USFS campground (Williwaw) only about 1 hr from Anchorage on the road headed to Whittier. The CG was at the foot of Portage Glacier and was absolutely spectacular, while still being conveniently located and inexpensive. Lynne

I agree with the last poster and have had several trips to Alaska over the years with the only reservation being Savage River Campground at Denali. Williwaw is a favorite but you should check availability a few days in advance of going there as it is popular. If going to Valdez or Seward there are several RV parks with space available even at the peak times. And there are very nice Alaska State Parks which were free with the pass provided by Great Alaskan RV rentals the 2 times we used them although without hookups. The other 4 times we drove up and although we had a truck camper and could fit smaller spots there seemed to be lots of space (except at the Swif****er Municipal campground in Soldotna where we always end up for the Sockeye run mid July)

-- Edited by Gandalf on Monday 8th of March 2010 11:02:56 PM