To tow or not to tow?

[daveshoby]

We will be leaving our home in Florida late April and will leasurily cross the country and enter Canada early June. We will be in AK until mid August and start the return trip home with plans to be back in Florida in November. We will be towing while in the lower 48 but are wondering about towing for the AK portion of the trip. Friends have been there 3 times and didn't tow and see no need for a tow. Their experience was that everywhere you go is more than a day trip so you need the RV anyway. Parking at the destination was never a problem. Opinions? Thanks, Dave

[PA12DRVR]

Cut and paste from a similar post:

"
Some thoughts from Alaska and an Alaskan: - Disclaimer is that other than renting a Class C once and a Class A once, my camping in AK is either truck, plane, or backpack camping; I have driven most roads in the state; - As noted in previous posts, many folks will say that a toad is not needed unless you go out in the boonies: this is factually true. - I would offer that if your style is to stay several days at one spot, a toad would be very beneficial, even if not in the boonies: Staying at Matanuska Glacier and want to run up to Eureka to see how the locals drink? Toad is much more convenient. Want to run in to McCarthy/Kennicott ("run" is a stretch) from Chitina? Toad is much more convenient. - REcognizing that most RV'rs stay away from Anchorage (and I could understand that), still, if you're spending time at a spot (ER State Park for 14 days, perhaps?) where you'll want to see Anchorage, a toad is helpful. FWIW, if I'm going "downtown", I'll leave my pickup parked and take the Jeep Wrangler - Ditto even some of the smaller towns (Talkeetna, Homer, Palmer, etc): Very little that can't be accessed with a MH/Class C/Whatever, but a toad is much more convenient. - If one is taking ferry's, railroad, etc, a toad would be a monstrous PITA - If one likes to take the dirt roads (not 4WD trails, just some of the dirt roads) a toad can be a much more carefree and enjoyable way of noodling around - Want to spend an evening seeing the bright lights and having a nice dinner "downtown" (whether Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Homer)? Easier in a toad. Entirely do-able (with planning) with a bigger rig, but easier in a toad. All the above assumes that "toad" is something like a small p/u or a Jeep or something of that nature. Much of what I see as benefits of a toad are lost if it's a Prius or something like that.
"

[lanerd]

Got me confused too. I thought he was talking about Alberta.

[2gypsies1]

Take your towed vehicle if you like to sitesee the nooks and crannies. We didn't get any damage towing ours.

[D_E_Bishop]

First off, Al is Alabama not Alaska (AK), second it is easier to answer questions if all the parameters are covered. What are you driving. Perhaps no one told you about signatures but they serve quite a few purposes like identifying what size and class of rig you have.

Personally, we have RVed AK three times, twice fly/drive and once drive up and back. I will never go again without a towed. I would even use it for overnights to distand locals with roadhouse stays.

Like they say, to each his own and that's mine.

[rag-ftw]

We experienced worse road conditions driving Route 66 in 2015 than we have in any of our three trips up and down the Alaskan Highway. Some kind of rock shield is a good investment but we wouldn't think of leaving our towed behind.

[Ernest]

We found that it made wildlife viewing a lot easier. Lots of roads in the Yukon and Alaska you don't want to pull over on what they call a shoulder in a class A DP.

[rv2go]

Really depends on your RV. You will see lots of Class C's without toads. Even some large Class A's without a toad.
We travel to AK in a 25' Class C. I liked the fact that I can just spend the night were we were at. No need to return to a campground where our rig would have been parked.

[lanerd]

We have been to Alberta several times and while it's true that most places have sufficient room to park a large mh, you will still have need to do short trips...supplies, visiting, exploring, etc.

I guess I don't understand. If you are towing a toad all during your previous travels in the US, why would you not continue while in Canada?

Personally, we don't take our mh anywhere without the toad following faithfully behind.

Ron

[Lwiddis]

RVing anywhere in a big MH without a toad isn't for me.