Campground Reservations

[llberge]

I know that this has been asked before, but I am trying to plan our Alaska trip and want to get this straight in my head.

We are leaving from Connecticut on June 6 and have planned our stops up to Jasper with reservations at Whistlers campground. From this point on, I want to be free to come and go as we please and stay an additional day or so in a town if we are enjoying the area. That’s the benefit of finally being retired, no schedule.

Here’s the problem. A lot of people say that you don’t need reservations for most of the trip, but you will need them to stay in the campgrounds at Denali National Park. My wife is “encouraging” me to get on with the planning so we can get those reservations. How can I possibly know when we are going to be there? Can you try to make them a couple of weeks before you arrive or should I just guess a date and make some now and hope we can adjust the trip accordingly? What have you folks done in the past? We have a 25 foot motorhome with no toad, so we will fit in most sites.

[Gjac]

When I went to Alaska in 2006 from Ct. for 3 mos I made no reservations even though I planned the trip and all the stops. What I found is that once we started hitting the NP's some we really liked and stayed a few more days, like RMNP, YNP and Glacier NP. The trip through BC Banff, Jasper, Muncho Lake and Kualane NP in the Yukon all required additional days. The trip up to Alaska was just as nice as Alaska itself. A lot depends on how you like to camp and what you like to do. I like to fish and camp in more remote areas either by a stream, or lake. Some of the best camp sites were the pull offs or NF CG's. If you want FHU's you may have to make reservations on the WE's or holidays. Have fun on your trip

[fanrgs]

We made reservations from our RV park site in Wasilla 4 days before we arrived in Denali NP (we stopped in Talkeetna for a couple of days in between those two stops). For Jasper NP Whistler's CG, Lake Louise CG, and Banff NP Tunnel Mountain, we made on-line reservations 5 days before arriving in Jasper. Those were the only reservations we made in advance for a 3-month Alaska trip and I can't remember not getting in to our first choice stopover site any night during that entire trip. We used a combination of private RV parks, national, provincial, and state park CGs, Indian casino parking lots with hookups, roadside pull-outs, and Walmart parking lots during that period, but we never stayed more than 3 nights in one place.

Note that many towns in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest have RV dumps (some pay, some free) at city parks or fairgrounds. And in Alaska, many Fred Meyer stores/gas stations have free RV dumps and water, as do select gas stations (pay or free with fuel fill-up) in popular RV towns like Tok, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Palmer, etc. See dump locations HERE.

[Veebyes]

2gypsies wrote:
Unless reservations for Teklanika (TEK) campground has changed, I don't believe you can choose a specific size site. You drive out there in the morning and choose your own site.

This creates a big problem & can led to unoccupied small sites because small RVs have taken long sites. A classic last time we were there. A VW Westfalia occupying a site 60' long. I paced it out.

At Bryce Canyon NP one of the CGs inside the park has designated minimum length limits for certain sites. Stops little units occupying long sites & makes for better use of the CG.

[2gypsies1]

Unless reservations for Teklanika (TEK) campground has changed, I don't believe you can choose a specific size site. You drive out there in the morning and choose your own site.

[Nodaker]

We spent 2 1/2 months to Alaska and back last summer (2016). We left ND in late June and had reservations over July 1-4 in Alberta (July 1 is Canada Day). We only made reservations a day in advance so we could get into preferred campgrounds. We stayed in a mix of primitive public and full-hook-up commercial campgrounds.

We missed staying in Denali (Tek) as there were no larger sites available when we looked at reservations a week or so in advance. If (when) we go again I would project out in advance and pick a week for Teklanika then just adjust our travels to accommodate.

[2gypsies1]

llberge wrote:
Thank you all for your input. I think that we can reasonably estimate where we will be for July 1 and 4, so we will make those reservations. For Teklanika in Denali, we will start calling about 2 weeks before we arrive in that area and prepare to be flexible.

This is definitely the correct way to go about staying in Denali. We made our 5 night reservation two weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd be there. We stayed at Teklanika 5 nights.

We did get near Denali a little earlier than expected and on a whim we decided to try for the front campground - Riley Creek. We boondocked nearby at a lovely spot the previous night and drove into the park early morning with our 40' motorhome and easily secured an additional 5 nights at Riley Creek.

There is plenty to do in each of the campgrounds - Riley Creek and Teklanika. Our days were full and we saw the big 5 large animals over and over again. We also saw 'THE' mountain almost all day long 7 out of 10 nights in the park.

Staying in Denali itself is the way to go for that large park.

[D_E_Bishop]

I have to disagree with the assessment that the commercial CGs in the North are much like anywhere else. How many places anywhere else have sites with a view of a lake where you can see moose feeding 24 hours a day, where beaver swim past your site and where front office service is really conducted on the honor system?

I agree that there are a couple of CGs within a 30 minute drive of the Anchorage Information Center and the downtown area that are what are considered Commercial campgrounds. Riverfront in Fairbank, Bearpaw in Valdez and many others are laid out in a similar way but are anything but "like anywhere else".

Maybe I am more gregarious than some but half of the great things we saw were recommendations from others and seemingly a lot of other folks use CGs as a social gathering place. We tried to find a "commercial CG" every so often to recharge and refill our rig and none of them were like anyplace else. I will say that all the public campgrounds we used were every bit as good and scenic as the commercial ones.

[llberge]

Thank you all for your input. I think that we can reasonably estimate where we will be for July 1 and 4, so we will make those reservations. For Teklanika in Denali, we will start calling about 2 weeks before we arrive in that area and prepare to be flexible.

We haven't done any dry camping in our new rig yet, so we have to experiment a bit before we take off for this major trip.

You folks at this site have been extremely helpful by sharing your knowledge and experiences, and we really appreciate it.

[fulltimedaniel]

llberge wrote:
I know that this has been asked before, but I am trying to plan our Alaska trip and want to get this straight in my head.

We are leaving from Connecticut on June 6 and have planned our stops up to Jasper with reservations at Whistlers campground. From this point on, I want to be free to come and go as we please and stay an additional day or so in a town if we are enjoying the area. That’s the benefit of finally being retired, no schedule.

Here’s the problem. A lot of people say that you don’t need reservations for most of the trip, but you will need them to stay in the campgrounds at Denali National Park. My wife is “encouraging” me to get on with the planning so we can get those reservations. How can I possibly know when we are going to be there? Can you try to make them a couple of weeks before you arrive or should I just guess a date and make some now and hope we can adjust the trip accordingly? What have you folks done in the past? We have a 25 foot motorhome with no toad, so we will fit in most sites.

Well I went from Cabo San Lucas to Alaska last year and my ONLY reservation was at Denali Natl Park at Teklanika.

What I notice about your post is your leaving date from CT. If it was me I'd leave to arrive in Alaska near the first part or middle of May. This is one of the best times of year and your biggest chance of seeing Denali clearly. The weather is generally very good at that time.

As for the Denali reservations: I'd pick a conservative date in about the last third of my time in Alaska and then time my visits to other parts around that date. Denali is too great and important to miss.

And as for Reservations in Alaska I agree with the July 4th recommendations BUT I was at Teklanika Campground in Denali National Park on July 4th because I made my reservations far in advance. As for the rest of the time reservations were never needed.

Think hard about changing that departure date you wont regret it.

Have a good time.

[Luke_Porter]

I think Denali has both reservable sites and "walk-up" sites. I have called a week ahead and got in. Also have been there many times and they always had walk-up sites for tomorrow, if not today.

[scrubjaysnest]

Graydust wrote:
We made the trip for 3 months in 2014. We called 5 days before we got there with no problems. We were in Whittier when we called. We stayed in Rilley Creek campground in Denali Nation Park which is just inside the park. You have to have a reservation. Have a great trip.

We did similar in 2010. Made reservations for Tek. Once there decided we wanted to stay latter at Riley. Host called in over the radio and a couple hours later gave us our reservation number. Interesting thing that year at Riley; campground full sign was up the whole time we were there even though there empty sites.

[Veebyes]

Been to Alaska 3 times. Reservations are generally not needed. Get where you plan to be by mid afternoon & you should be fine. Avoid the full service CGs where the tours flock to & make reservations for the July 4th holiday or get there before the locals do.

Always travel prepared for a few nights of dry camping. JMO but the provincial parks & state parks are the best anyway giving the northern feel. The commercial CGs are much like anywhere else.

For Denali make reservations, especially for the Tek CG, the best one to be in by far.

[TenOC]

Ivylog wrote:
One of the nice things about AK is all of the place to dry camp. Assuming you have a generator in your Class C I would not worry about reservations or staying in CGs until you know your schedule, IF at all. Granted we are the "NO reservations" types as we are very self contained.

There are 1,000's of pull of the side of the road dry camp place and the views are much better than in a CG. If you need a campground to dump and fill (most are only gravel parking lots any way) you can find one since you are flexable.

Do not over plan.

[johnwalkerpa1]

My experience is that the Canadian Rockies, Denali and July 4 are the biggest concerns.

However, I've also found that if you are flexible enough, its not an issue..

By flexible, I mostly mean the following:

1. Occasionaly, Be willing to accept a dry site rather than hookups
2. Occasionaly, Be willing to wait a day or two to get in the popular spots
3. Occasionaly, Be willing to boondock which is easier in Alaska than most any other place..

Edit...When I said "the Canadian Rockies" above, I really meant Banff to Jasper...not the Canadian Rockies farther north....