Please help! Alaska itinerary for RV newbie.

[greeholiday]

RV newbie here, planning a family trip of 6 (kids aged 12 to 14) to Alaska in August. Below is our tentative itinerary. It has a couple of long drive days, but appreciate feedback if this seems reasonable to see the highlights surrounding Anchorage and welcome any tips. Family is most interested in hiking, kayaking, seeing amazing wildlife and experiencing the quirky side of Alaska – but trying to keep activities within a reasonable budget.

Day 1 Fly from East Coast to Seattle (decided to do this to avoid arriving in Anchorage at 2am!)
Day 2 Tour Seattle, adjust internal clocks
Day 3 Early flight to Anchorage, get RV, provision RV, drive to Talkeetna with stop at Musk Ox Farm. In Talkeetna, either do flightseeing trip, zip lining or fishing. RECOMMENDATION ON CAMPGROUND IN/NEAR TALKEETNA SO WE CAN WALK TO TOWN AND RESTURANTS?
Day 4 Drive to Denali National Park. Visitors Center, dog sled, overnight at Savage River Campground (boondocking for 2 days)
Day 5 Take Denali bus trip into park + hike, overnight at Savage River Campground
Day 6 Drive to Girdwood. Hike Winner Creek, pan for gold. RECOMMENDATION ON CAMPGROUND NEAR GIRDWOOD?
Day 7 Drive to Cooper Landing  with stop at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center; take half day fishing charter and/or hike Russian River Falls. Overnight at Williwaw CG or Portage Valley CG?
Day 8 Drive to Seward, visit Alaska SeaLife Center, kayak trip into Resurrection Bay, hike Harding Icefield. We hope to overnight at the Seward waterfront RV park, but worry that it is Silver Salmon Derby and there might not be spaces with hookup available. SUGGESTIONS? SHOULD WE HEAD TO HOMER INSTEAD AND SKIP SEWARD?
Day 9 Full day Kenai Fjords cruise
Day 10 Return RV (evening) with stop at Exit Glacier. Late departure from Anchorage

Appreciate all your assistance.

[enblethen]

This is a great trip you have planned.
I would not go there without trying to see Denali. If the weather is good, take the trip into Eilsen Visitors Center. Good as being clear, overcast you are not going to see much of the moutains.
Signs says, by memory, 40% of the people see part of the mountain and only 6% see all the mountain. We were lucky on last trip to see all the mountain.
There is a couple veiwing locations north of Talkeetna as an option.

[greeholiday]

As we have a relatively short trip, what do other think of skipping the long drive to Denali and stay a few nights at Talkeetna campground instead, taking a flightseeing trip if the weather is clear? Thanks.

[enblethen]

Yes, it is a great trip out.
When you check in there is a sign making reference to how many people actually see the whole mountain.
Our last trip out of a dozen or so, was the first time we saw the whole mountain from the Eilson visitors center.

[fulltimedaniel]

enblethen wrote:
If it is cloudy at Denali the school bus ride will be a waste! It must be clear or mostly clear or you will not see any of the mountain. Even animals "hide" when the weather is crappy!

I am sorry but this statement is just clearly not true about the weather or the animals.

The mountain is not the only objective to the shuttle bus ride out to the end of the road.

It is a spectacularly scenic road and drive. And I have seen more animals on cloudy days than sunny ones. Including Foxes, Grizzly bears with cubs, Caribou and others.

Not only that but the Eilson visitor center is a worthy stop also.

To those heading to Denali please don't miss one of the great attractions of the entire park...the chance to get into the back country on this drive.

[2gypsies1]

For hiking Winner Trail - a fun one with a hand pull to get across the river - stay at beautiful Williwaw national forest campground. Take the kids for a short hike onto Bear Glacier. Yes, you can walk on it.

I'd highly recommend that you stay at one of the front campgrounds in Denali - Savage River or Riley Creek. Riley Creek has showers, water fill and dump station. There's lots to do in the front area of Denali and you mentioned the sled dog demo which is great fun. There are many ranger programs. Teklanika is wonderful but there's more to do in the front area if you only have a few days. We stayed at Teklanika for 5 nights and Riley Creek for 5 nights and the 10 days were absolutely full. We saw the mountain 7 of 10 days and every one of the big animals residing in the park.

The waterfront city park in Seward is a great location. You can walk to the See Life facility and watch the big cruise ships come in or leave. Otters will play in the water right in front of you.

Have a great trip!

[2lazy4U]

Skip the musk oxen farm, it's not worth it. They don't let you get that close to the animals and about all to see is a bunch of them in a field. The reindeer farm out of Palmer is much better, but still not what I'd do on a short trip like that.

While still in Anchorage, check the weather and if Denali weather is cloudy, go south first then go to Denali last, assuming the weather gets better. Three nights there might be a bit much given your short timeframe. I would go for two. There are two Denali state parks on the highway to Denali where you can overnight if they're not full, a north and a south park, both have restrooms and lots of mosquitoes, but are nice stop over places. Do a flightseeing trip over Denali out of Talkeetna, it will be the highlight of the entire trip, assuming it's not clouded in. If it is, just spend one day, as you won't see much except the road the bus goes up. I know that sounds like sacrilege, but it's true, w/o seeing the mtn, the park is pretty much just trees and cliffs and hills, though you might get lucky and see a bear. Head straight to Seward and skip the stuff between.

Don't try to cram too much in. You'll just exhaust yourselves and won't enjoy it as much.

[enblethen]

If it is cloudy at Denali the school bus ride will be a waste! It must be clear or mostly clear or you will not see any of the mountain. Even animals "hide" when the weather is crappy!

[fulltimedaniel]

greeholiday wrote:
Thanks all for our great feedback. Thinking about cutting out Seattle and flying straight into Anchorage to give us an extra day to explore. Clearly Denali and Seward are musts and will try to maximize time in each. Do you think a family of six can survive for 3 nights in one of the Denali National Park campgrounds without hookup? I like the suggestion to provision the RV on Day 1 and hit the road first thing the next day to Denali, but on the long ride from Denali to Seward, should we overnight somewhere?

About Teklanika; Yes your family can. Many do it. It will just take a bit of planning. There are restrooms there. But it is 30 miles inside the park, much much more the wilderness experience I think you are going for.

Get a copy of the Milepost Magazine now and that will help with stops.

Have fun and good luck.

[PA12DRVR]

So, a few comments, take them as opinion and FWIW:

- You mentioned budget; to me that means prioritize:
- I suppose it is interesting to see Musk Ox, but going to the Musk Ox farm, one will see those animals behind a fence.....not worth the time in my view;
- Ziplining can be done almost anywhere in the U.S...skip the zipline and save the $$ for something else unless the teens absolutely need the distraction
- Girdwood is a great break from Anchorage, but unless you've planned an evening wherein you dine at the Seven Glaciers (atop the mountain) it's not worth stopping other than for gas and a meal
- For the typical sightseeing activities (and/or fishing) Seward and Homer are about equal (IMNSHO).....the shorter time to get to Seward should tip the balance toward Seward if given the choice
- At the Wildlife center in Portage, one can see bears, moose, elk, etc.....it is not anything close to wilderness and it's just Northern animals in a zoo. Worth the time and $$, but don't expect it to be more than it is.
- This whole post is of course, opinion, but real opinion follows:
- I'd skip the Anchorage Museum: Only part of it is devoted to "Alaska" stuff and, while that is pretty interesting, it's not worth a day in Anchorage on your short itinerary
- I'd also skip the Native Heritage center....lots of reasons, but again, not worth a day's delay in my view; you might find it interesting if you'll be staying in Anchorage anyway.
- Recognize it's heresy on this forum, but unless you're going to actually take a multi-day trip away from the roads, I've always thought that camping in Denali was overrated....stay in Talkeetna and take a flightseeing trip instead: more spectacular scenery, less issues with crowds, and if there isn't wildlife in Valley 1, just pop over to Valley 2.
- With a short time frame, I think I'd split time between Seward and Talkeetna and save time and $$ to do either boat rides or flightseeing from those locations
- Your time is too short in general, but, if it was me, I wouldn't skip the day in Seattle. Take a ferry trip or a sightseeeing tour in Puget Sound or Lake Washington as a "warm up" for Alaska; enjoy downtown Seattle; visit the Filson store; visit the harbor; Seattle in the summer is a great place to spend a day.
- FWIW, if you do get into Los Anchorage at 2:00 a.m. and your RV rental is accomodating, it will take about 2/3 the time to drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. as it would take between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 pm....depending only slightly on the day.

[DrewE]

greeholiday wrote:
At the risk of further exposing my novice self, I have a basic question -- If you stay multiple days at a campground but want to take your RV to visit nearby sites (or store or restaurant) that are not in walking distance, how do you hold your campsite or do you give it up? Do you put folding chairs there or is there some other way to mark it as occupied?

Thanks!

That depends on the campground.

If it's run by assigned sites and reservations, once you've paid and gotten your site it's yours. It might be good to mention to the office that you're out for the day so they don't get the wrong idea, but even that oughtn't be necessary. If you find someone else in it when you return, you complain graciously to them or the hosts/office if needed. Usually there's no difficulty at such campgrounds, though, since everybody has their specific site.

If it's a first-come, first-serve campground, it's wise to leave some markers. Some people build portable signs they can leave set up. Chairs are also good. Make sure it's a little more than could be readily mistaken for something left behind accidentally; I lost a welcome mat and a couple of wooden leveling ramps at a state park once when gone for the day, presumably because the campground host came by and thought I had left without them, rather than merely left for the day and was expecting to return to them. That was a park reservations/assigned sites.

[greeholiday]

At the risk of further exposing my novice self, I have a basic question -- If you stay multiple days at a campground but want to take your RV to visit nearby sites (or store or restaurant) that are not in walking distance, how do you hold your campsite or do you give it up? Do you put folding chairs there or is there some other way to mark it as occupied?

Thanks!

[c_traveler2]

greeholiday wrote:
Thanks all for our great feedback. Thinking about cutting out Seattle and flying straight into Anchorage to give us an extra day to explore. Clearly Denali and Seward are musts and will try to maximize time in each. Do you think a family of six can survive for 3 nights in one of the Denali National Park campgrounds without hookup? I like the suggestion to provision the RV on Day 1 and hit the road first thing the next day to Denali, but on the long ride from Denali to Seward, should we overnight somewhere?

Go directly to Anchorage to give yourself the additional day, first timers to Alaska don't realize how far apart places are in Alaska. We didn't when we did ours in 2015, all by road from southern California. We didn't see Denali NP during our trip, but did go to Seward. There's a couple of private campgrounds and the city run camping area that has coin operated showers and a RV dump. The city also runs a bare bone site on Nash road that has only portable toilet, you can return to the city campsite anytime to use the shower (plenty of hot water) If you want to get out and walk on a glacier then made a overnight stop at Mantanuska Glacier, we did this and it was great, you can camp there.

Musk Ox Farm


Mantanuska Glacier

.

There are plenty of pullouts along the way for overnight stops we used those a number of times. In Anchorage there is a Fred Myers store, they have everything and the gas station has a RV dump. Use Google Earth to find many of those pullout along the route you want to take. If I can be of further help just PM me.

[sue_t]

Savage River campground in Denali is a pleasant spot to stay. As is Teklanika. Both have positives.

At Savage River you can drive in & out as you wish, including heading to the stores and the campground at the entrance to fill with water and dump your tanks.

At Teklanika, once you're parked, that's it - no moving until you leave. But you can get a Tek pass for the bus and take the trip whenever it suits you, as long as there is space on the bus when it gets to Teklanika.

[enblethen]

Check with the rental outfit to find out their schedule. They could be open very early in the morning.
I would not want to miss Seward or Homer!
Gold panning?

[Rocky2]

Also to consider. Summer is construction season and roads are already crowded so driving times are longer than you might think. Of all the times I have driven there, the things that stick in my mind most are: Flight seeing out of Talkeetna,the Kenai fjords boat trip, and fishing the Kenai. For the kids, you will also want to take the bus ride into Denali. I have both driven my car and taken the bus in as far as Eielson and had times I have seen wildlife and missed it. Seward in my mind is a better place to locate than Homer. If time and location permit, the Native Heritage Center and downtown Anchorage museum are worth the effort. Williwau is a fine campground near the conservation center. Girdwood is a place to buy gas and keep on going in my opinion.