Trip to Alaska

[sailfish44]

My wife and I just purchased a new 2016 Newmar Dutch Star and will be planning a trip from our home in Fla to Alaska with many stops in between. We will be towing a 2011 Ford Fiesta. I am looking for any advice on time of year for the segment in Alaska along with any other info or advice from all of the experienced travelers on this site.
We have traveled many times to Ca, pulling two 5th wheels and recently a 40 ft diesel pusher.

Thanks

[CLIFFTALL]

We entered the first week of June in 2004 and left the first week of August. Weather was perfect.

[sdennislee]

Be out by September, things begin closing in September. I would not plan on less than 30 days in AK, 60 is better.

Lived there for 8 years, still places I want to see

[tom chelbana]

We went with Fantasy Tours in 2014 and would recommend them to anyone going to Alaska. I lived in Alaska for 2 years 45 years ago and have wanted to go back. Weather nice with only 3 days of rain but roads were as bad as we heard. Bring extra belts because a lot of rocks and one of the coaches missed 5 days because a rock broke their fan belt on a new coach and it took 4 days to get one. Been RVing for over 40 years and by far the best trip ever. Do include Lake Louise on your way up north. A must see on the way to Alaska.

[Golferdave78]

Gonna be watching this post as my DW and I are considering an Alaska adventure, although probably not until 2018
We have a 2015 DSDP 4369.
We are Taking our maiden big trip this summer to Yellowstone from Ga.

[Stripe34]

Watching thread also. Visited Alaska via air/car & tent camping many years ago. Planning on going back.

[Capt. Bill]

Having made this trip 3 years ago in our 2005 MADP, we were gone 13 weeks & traveled 10,800 miles from near St Louis & saw it all- here is my advice:
1, Leave FL the first week of June- puts you at Glacier National Park the 3rd week of June & in Alaska ~ 2nd - 3rd week of July.
2) Buy a book or CD 'Mileposts' which expounds on what to see mile by mile.
3) Go up the Eastern side of Rocky Mountains (Glacier, Banff Alberta, Lake Louise) & come back down the Western side through BC.
4. Buy a rock guard for your toad- padded ones that cover the windshield are best. Also carry a windshield repair kit for rock chips. No, you don't need to cover your radiator intake with hardware cloth!
5. SLOW DOWN- like 20 MPH, when you encounter the frost heave areas on the road- 80% paved - balance under reconstruction. Watch the parallel ones as they tend to grab you - Comfort drive will help here.
6. Fill up with diesel in Northern Montana so you won't have to buy much in Canada- it's considerably higher.
7. Dump both holding tanks & fill with fresh water every chance you get- you may have to unexpectantly boondock where you weren't expecting to. We had to stay on a highway for almost 2 days because of forest fires!
8. Be sure to spend a minimum of 6 weeks in Alaska- be sure to see- Fairbanks- 3-4 days, Artic Circle 2-3 days, Denali National Park- 3-4 days, Talkeetna, Kenai peninsula, Homer, Seward, - a week, Valdez, Salmon Glacier etc.
9. Add Canadian voice & data plans to your smart phones & laptop through your US providers before you leave. Take your passports & pet papers
10. Carry a spare tire for both your coach(tire only as you'll need road service to change it anyway & mounted spare for your toad.
11. Weather is good from late June through 2nd week of Sept.
Enjoy & Happy Trails

[algolfer]

Capt. Bill pretty much summed it up. We've made the trip several times most recently last year. The roads are good with the exception of the Yukon territory which is where you will run into the frost heaves, broken road and clouds of dust from construction zones. About 40 miles from the Alaskan border in the Yukon you will encounter your worst road. Just go slow. I did about 10-15 mph. No hurry, no damage. A pickup pulling a 5th wheel passed me like I was standing still. I caught and passed him about 30 minutes later as he was changing a tire. The key is SLOW in the Yukon.

Alaska is beautiful. Enjoy!!

[Mr JP]

This will be a very interesting thread We are also planning a trip to Alaska next year and will need to learn all I can to plan the trip


Good Luck
JP

[Kend51]

We are also planning an Alaska trip next year.

[Capt. Bill]

Everyone should have Alaska on their 'bucket list'!! It's not only extremely beautiful but truly 'Americas Last Frontier'. Adjust your schedule to allow at least 6-8 weeks in state. Why drive that far & rush through it?? I would go back in a heart beat. It's nice to travel with another unit & pull only one toad as you have extra help in case of emergency & some company at the camp site.
One more tip - don't go up the Klondike Hwy to Dawson, YT. Go to Tok, Alaska- leave your coaches there in the campground and take the Taylor Hwy (very dangerous road- especially in rainy weather) up over the mountain- through Chicken- & ferry the Yukon River over to Dawson YT. & stay overnight in a motel/Hotel. You'll be glad you did!!

Happy Trails

[GKU]

DW and I went to Alaska last year from FLA. Entered Canada around the first of June and took about 2 weeks to get to Alaska. As said earlier the Yukon has very bad roads that are beings rebuilt every spring-summer. Just go slow 15-20 mph max, and be on the lookout for the frost heaves. We entered Canada in WY and came back down the west coast.
Take your time and enjoy the beautiful view it will last your lifetime.
We are planing another trip in the next few years.

[matthew6279]

Originally Posted by Golferdave78

Gonna be watching this post as my DW and I are considering an Alaska adventure, although probably not until 2018
We have a 2015 DSDP 4369.
We are Taking our maiden big trip this summer to Yellowstone from Ga.

Just got back from Yellowstone a couple weeks ago. Weather was fantastic!

[Runaway4002]

As I write this we are still in Alaska. We entered Alaska on June 1st and will leave July 25th. We will be back in Washington State around August 15th. All told that will be 1 month in British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Alberta with 2 months in Alaska. This is about the right time of the year weather wise and right amount of time to see much of what you must see (You could easily spend a year traveling in Alaska and still not see it all). We managed a week in Anchorage, a week in Fairbanks, a week at Denali, a week on the Kenai Peninsula, and one to three days in a dozen other areas. I flew to Barrow (Northern most city in the U.S.) and dipped my toe into the Arctic Ocean, we drove the Top of the World Highway from Chicken, the Alcan Highway (going North), the Cassiar (going South), fished the Kenai river (caught one), hiked extensively, etc. We would have stayed another few weeks were it not for needing to be back for some warranty work prior to August 27th. Our Newmar Ventana (40 foot with tag axel) performed excellently as expected but did get very dirty on numerous occasions. The roads are good but far from great. There is a lot of road construction and delays up to 30 minutes but typically 10 minutes or less. There is a lot of dust and it gets into everything in the coach, bins, bedding, A/C ducts and filters, etc. Because of the rain (weather was generally good with rain about half the days we were here, only 5 or 6 days of heavy rain) we encountered a lot of mud as well in the construction zones and the top of the world. We have encountered several who thought we were crazy to take our new and large coach to Alaska and do what and where we did. My answer has been simple, I bought the best and expected it to perform and it did not disappoint at all. It helps that we have all day to get there as we are retired and that we are in no hurry and happy to go slow and pull over to let traffic pass. This is really the only way to safely travel the roads we took, the construction zones, the gravel roads, the frost heave, etc. I would be happy to give more details to anyone that might want them.