Alaska

[AJH]

Would like to here from anyone and everyone that has pulled a Montana to Alaska. What sort of problems did you experence and what is the best route to take.
Thanks
AJ

[adelmoll]

Several of us have taken our Montana..We were fortunate and did not have any problems except for the muck we were washing off for a year after.. I don't think there is any best route to take.. They are all beautiful. However, we first crossed the border in Washington and returned in Montana and it was awesome..Our blog below has the story of our trip that we started in May 2006

Helen

[Art-n-Marge]

The main roads are the best for throughway towing. Even with just a vehicle (no towing) I stuck to these roads but in my case my short timeframe required us to do so. They are easily identifiable on Atlases and maps. Then if you spend a few days overnight you can take your TV sans trailer to visit over the lesser roads. Keep in mind rough parts of the road will jump up at you and these roads are no guarantees you won't have any problems. But take it easy, don't rush and stay within your time limits.

This is not the kind of trip you want to overplan for activities. There are many factors that can slow down your progress especially when you find a gem of a part you want to spend more time. Rvers try not to drive more than 400 miles unless it's absolutely necessary, but typical is 300 or less.

I highly recommend you purchase a recent copy of "The Milepost" which is a large book about Alaska (and western Canada) that lists every store, stop, lodging, bird, tree and rock on the road (and I exaggerate) but it's a wealth of information for trips to Alaska.

For example, in southwestern Canada, there's TC-1, TC-5 and Hwy 97. Then the Alaska part of the AL-CAN as well that are good to travel on, like staying on the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks for a northern route or the fork on Glenn Highway for a southern route and these both converge on Anchorage. I've heard there are some parts of Hwy 2 in Canada and the Dempster Hwy in Alaska that are "challenging" and require slow going but I haven't even done those when not towing.

Glenn Highway also provides a fork called Richardson Highway to the southern coast of Alaska.

Another (expensive) alternate to driving is the Alaska State Ferry system. These ships easily fit your rig and allows seeing the incredibly beautiful Southeast Passage or another Ferry section including Seward and parts north. Unfortunately you can't stay in the rig and must either book a cabin (aka closet with bunks), or you can pitch and duct tape a tent to the back deck and hope for good weather. Many haved use the Ferry system to spend a few days on each island stop. The Ferry system does require as much advance reservations as possible. If you are going this summer, then lodging is "iffy" on a ferry because it's probably all booked.

You can count on the fact it will be a fabulous trip!!!

I highly recommend you check out "adelmoll's" tripjournal link. It's a fabulous read (starting on page 4 for parts of Canada, and page 5 for Alaska) about their 2006 trip to Canada & Alaska over several months.

[AJH]

I greatly approciate the information. Keep it coming. Had planed to make the trip this summer, but do to time and lack of planing had to put it off. Hope to get an early start spring or summer of 2012 God willing. At one point we even though about spending our summers in the south AZ, NM, etc and then heading north for the summer. Get the best of both worlds.
Hope to have a good plan and every thing layed out for 2012. Want take it slow and yep we are on a tight budget as are most of us. SO every penny counts. You have confirmed my my worries about bad roads. So I can understand the 200miles a day, but we are getting slow any way.
Rough plan.
Head north through Great Falls MT, and back along the west coase. Tavel about 200 miles a day, sleep on the road
every other day, (Rest area, or large friendly parking lot. Spend a few day in a camp site once a weeek to look around (this is where we need help in picking places and camp sites. Not necessarelly a tourest trap, but friendly towns. Military base with camp sites are a plus. Yes we like our comforts of home Elect,water sewage, TV, etc. would be nice. I did my time in a tent but have no regrets about that either.Hope to start a TOpic here listing things we like and appriciate any imput to plan a trip. So alway looking for updates and anyone that sees my mistake and tells me what I need to do to avoide them. Not in a huge hurry Hope to leave in April or May and get back in Aug or Sept. Never been to Ak, but it has alway faninated me all the way back to when it became a state. SO much nature and beauty. Anyway I have rambled on long enough, but I do need your support in putting a plan together. Maybe if all goes well we can come up with several routs listing camps site info, cost,road conditions, and best places to visit. Who know maybe one day a bunch get togther and form a carvan to protect and look out for one another. Leaving Va on Sunday .08-06-11 and headin north west, Va, WV, KY, IL, NB, SD, Wy, ID, OR, from there either along the Ca coast or NV,UT, and into AX andNM for winter. THe NOrth in spring. So as you can see its a plan, but in order to make it come true and to be able to see our our best site. we need to YOU help. Anyting including sources to maps to the best place to see. Keep in mind, Disablited vet, Totally didabled and on SSD, BUt still alive and as long as I am breathing I plan to enjoy what I have left.. NOt sure how to put it allto gether, but I am sure it has a lot to do with your support. I looked into several caravan sites, and they seem to be out of our price range. Most start a 5 K, and it does include occasional meals, but most are not furnished. has recommended campe sits, but not covered in the price. So add the 5 K, plus gas, labor, entertainment, campsites, etc it could get very expensive. ONCE again I have rambled on AJ

[hunts800]

We went in 2006 - best experience of our lives, and we plan to repeat the trip next year. At that time we had a 25 TT, but will not hesitate to take our 5vr - The worst roads I was on in Alaska and Canada were better than the freeways in California!! We went up the ALCAN and came back the Cassiar - don't miss Hyder/Stewart, Salmon Glacier. We left our trailer in Tok while we drove the Top of the World highway in our 4 wheel drive truck. Although we saw several people pulling trailers and driving motorhomes on the Top of the World highway - I am glad I did not. It is dirt for a considerable part of the way - lots of big potholes.

As others have said, the latest Milepost is a must. We left California on May 17th, and returned July 1st. Just about right time - Only place we had reservations was Denali Natl Park - had no problems getting into the numerous RV -parks everywhere else - Fairbanks, Anchorage, Homer, Valdez, etc.

[Carl n Susan]

As a disabled vet, be sure to check into the Oregon State Park's generous camping policy. You have to be registered with them, but then you get up to a week free at each park you stay at. Since OR is a spectacular piece of country, it would be easy to spend a *LOT* of time there.

[timandsusan]

We went up in 2007. Check our Trip Journal as shown on this page. It is a great trip. No problems with the Monty that a screw driver could not fix. We returned in mid-Aug and I would stay until Labor Day next time. The weather was great all the way home and the tourist were generally gone. Send me an email for specific questions.