Fifth wheel or truck camper for Alaska trip

When we lived on Vancouver Island and made numerous trips to Yukon & Alaska, we travelled with a 25' fifth wheel. No issues. Travelled many backroads and gravel trails without problem. If we wanted to explore a goat trail, we'd unhook and take the truck only.

We rarely stay in commercial campgrounds, preferring to drycamp in the bush or in the many gov't campgrounds. Thoroughly enjoyed these trips and never wished we didn't have the fifth wheel.

Now that we LIVE in Yukon, we also have a camper. This lets us do more extreme trails and impulsive exploring on rough paths. In winter the camper with the ski-doos on the trailer behind. Same for fishing trips, the camper with the boat towed behind us.

BUT if we were still tourists and wanting to see 95% of the road accessible area, the fifth wheel would be the choice. For the other extreme 5%, the camper is nice to have.

We too have both a TC and a 5th wheel. The last 4 round trips to Alaska, we have taken our truck camper, as it is just my wife and me. We use the 5er more for destination camping, where we are going to park and sit awhile. However, most of our 13 round trips by RV, have been with a Class C, mid sized with bunks and a cab over queen. I think about 6 or the trips were with the C. We have used a 5th wheel on one of the trips I remember, and it worked fine as well. I have never found the amount of pleasure I have received from the trip has had anything much to do with the vehicle I am using.

In addition to the RV trips I have made a few more with cars and trucks and several with small aircraft following the Alaska Hwy and sometimes the Cassiar Hwy. Those were mostly tent camping trips, but sometimes I would land on the Alaska Hwy and taxi into a roadhouse parking lot to eat or spend the night.
Toad River was a good stop as the runway is just across the road from the cafe/motel/gas station. Great home made pies at Toad as well.

While on our RV trips to Alaska, we seldom stay in one place more than a few nights and off we go again. Two or three nights in Whitehorse, occasionally the same in Dawson Town, but most of the time it is only a night or two so the TC is easier to set up and depart with in the morning for me. Especially if we are boon docking as we tend to do about half the time, if the weather and smoke from forest fires allow, otherwise plugged into electricity to run the AC at night.

As PA12 mentioned, there just aren't that many roads in Alaska, and as he says, they go from paved, to gravel, to muck and mire suitable for ATVs and tracked vehicles very quickly. So either a TC or parking the trailer and driving the truck, will allow a visitor to go just about the same places. Most of the tourist attractions are set up with passenger bus parking so parking is normally just not a big issue. I apparently enjoy driving my truck with the TC in the back more than with the same truck pulling the 5th wheel trailer we have. Just less to be concerned with hauling the TC. Less tires to watch, wheel bearings, brakes, etc.
But with all this verbiage, I still wouldn't hesitate to take my current 31 ft trailer to Alaska and may do so on the next trip, which was going to be this summer but has now been put off till, at the earliest, 2015 summer thereof. LOL
My wife and I have been talking about doing one of the campground hosting positions one of these summers and the 5er would sure be better for that long a stay in one place.

You'll see both types of rigs in Alaska. FWIW, based on very informal observation, not many Alaskans have fifthwheels, but there are lots of TC's, but again, both types show up in numbers in the summer.

Just a note of caution: there are many places to "boondock" along the sides of roads, near small towns, etc.....and while the TC may be a bit better for those, neither the TC nor the 5th wheel will be suitable for any type of "exploring". Once you get off the relatively few dirt roads connected to the road system, the trails are for ATV/UTV. A TC will be a bit easier to maneuver is some places, but won't help get off the road system.

We took our 5W to Alaska last summer and had no issues towing it. If I had to spend nearly 4 months in a TC I would have suffered massive claustrophobia. You can read Our Alaska Blog here.

Since you are from Canada, the gas prices will not be a shock to you. It is lots of miles (KM) from the lower 48 (FL, TN, TX) and fuel is the major cost of a trip.

When we went, we camped on the side of the road (dry camp) for 5 days and them camped in a campground for 1 night to resupply.

I know one couple who had a VERY NICE 5er who purchased a used truck camper for the trip and them resold the truck camper when they returned for about the same price they paid for it. They were very happy with the trip.

Either will work.

We pulled a 34' 5th wheel and did not have a problem. We boondocked most of the time. Most units we saw on the road were trailers. Saw lots of pick up campers once we got to Alaska. These were Alaska residents, not people from the lower 48. I would take what you are happy with, not what other people would do.

We did it with our 5W and enjoyed every minute,had no problem what so ever.

There's food stores etc in every town as the locals have to eat also and live! Besides, there's so many things you can't take across the borders so why stock up? Border agents 3 times have litterally stripped our fridge and freezer and took fruits and cooked foods too. Even took our store bought bagged dog food! Yes we were royally pissed! Canada is very expensive and more so as you go north but Alaska is close to the same prices as the lower 48.

Yes, GO as it's gorgeous and outstanding and by all means go with a truck and a camper on the truck. We have towed a 29' 5th wheel the distance and also done it with a 9 1/2' Lance TC. The TC is by far the way to go! Our last TC trip to Alaska was 9 1/2 weeks and 13,137 miles from Michigan to Alaska up the Alaska Highway to Dawson City and the Top of the World and on all 7 highways in Alaska from way north of Faibanks to Homer Spit, Valdez, Seward and many more and back south on the Cassiar to Seattle down the 101 thru Oregon and back to Michigan on the northern route. Most of the days by far are spent on roads and viewing and the RV or TC is only to sleep and cook in etc.

How stupid it was to haul a 12,800 lb 5th wheel all that way just for that kind of usage! Got smarter! Most RV sites are small anyway and seldom will you see FHU CG's. Permafrost isn't friendly to underground plumbing lines and the thawed ground season is extremely short in the north.

Don't know about you but after 9 1/2 weeks of travel in the TC, we were ready to repack and leave again as you spend so little of the time in the TC. You sure don't go all the way to Alaska just to sit in the RV in a CG!

A hint: All 4 times we've gone to Alaska, it was so obvious that most of the big RV's and big class A's we'd see are just sitting in campgrounds and so was their toads and tow vehicles. DUH! That's not for us!

Just returned from Alaska last summer. We took a fifth-wheel and enjoyed the extra room and space to put stuff. At 30' you can fit into 97% of all the spaces in the parks, and 85% of all boondocking situations. The extra water and holding tanks will allow you to sit somewhere and fish for a few more days. And with the fishing so great, you will need space to put that freezer full of fish. The truck camper will put you anywhere, but you will have to make more stops for supplies. A lot of people will come to Alaska with the truck camper towing a boat. They put extra batteries and inverter in the boat for the freezer. Good luck. There is so much information on this forum, plus all the books.