Alaska parks
 

does the state and provencial parks have public showers ?

No showers in any Alaska State Parks that I am aware of. There may be an exception or two, I don't know of any.

Places to take showers in some of the towns (laundromat type places?), some city campgrounds (Seward comes to mind?), many private campgrounds.

Seems to me that the provincial parks in Canada - at least on the AK highway - were also lacking showers, although, again, available in many private campgrounds.

Not that I know of. But check the listing http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/index.htm

The ones I have been to- are bare bones, didn't even have hook ups. :)

BQ may know for sure, but I would imagine the cold winters preclude any unnecessary water piping to public buildings that are closed for the winter.

BayouGal, That's not necessarily true. It gets nearly as cold in Minnesota for nearly as long as in Alaska, but many of our state parks have showers. There may be other factors that preclude this in at least part of Alaska, but otherwise it is a managers decision on whether there are showers or not.

Every single provincial park in Alaska has jetting soaking tubs, plus a day spa overlooking the bear-viewing area. Ask for the hot moose nugget treatment ... :)

State parks are another matter. In Seward and other towns, there are often showers at the small boat harbor but they were not for the faint of heart.

As for Minn. vs. Alaska state parks, they are two different animals. The Minn. state park system is far more established and comprehensive, AK state parks are much more remote and it's a much smaller system.

Plus, comparing Minn. weather to AK is tricky. AK has so many regions it makes generalizing difficult.

It gets far colder, far longer in Fairbanks than anywhere in Minny. And, if you don't mind cold rain, it's much warmer in Juneau than I Falls, Minn. (or Embarrass).