RVing for 7 days - what area to visit?

Old Oct 15th, 2015, 04:40 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
RVing for 7 days - what area to visit?

Hello all,

We consider ourselves travellers, not tourists, yet we are doing a very touristy thing by taking a cruise next July from Vancouver to Seward. From there we take the train (touristy) to Anchorage and pick up an RV (touristy?) for 7 days.

We are a family of four (kids 7 and 12) and we love nature, wildlife, hiking, kayaking, etc. We would love to stay away from the fray as much as possible (and I do realize it will be JULY! and that Denali will be unavoidably busy.) Those are a given and we understand what to expect with that.

Here is my question: what do you residents and seasoned Alaskan travellers recommend for a driving route? What I've read here so far leans mainly toward Valdez, Homer, Seward...not a lot of mention of Denali NP, and no mention of Tok, Delta Junction, etc. and a little negativity toward Fairbanks.

After Denali (and is it any less crowded midweek?), what's the best way to get away from the throngs yet be safe and still enjoy all the things we like to do?

We were thinking of driving a loop from Anchorage north to Fairbanks, back down toward Tok then west to Anchorage, or the reverse of that. Now I'm thinking we should hit Denali then go south toward Valdez or Kenai/Homer, although I don't like the idea of backtracking. Seems like there may only be the one road that's suitable for an RV.

Sorry if I'm rambling - just excited as this is our first trip to Alaska and we've been wanting to go for a long time! Thanks in advance for your input.
travlchik is offline  
Old Oct 15th, 2015, 04:42 PM
  #2  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Meant to tag ALASKA.
travlchik is offline  
Old Oct 16th, 2015, 02:29 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 30,949
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It's been a few years since we were in AK but ds was living there and 4th of July was a great time to be in AK - Kenai had a wonderful parade and about that time there is the Forest Fair in Girdwood. I would avoid putting on too many miles and there are a lot of miles between Anchorage and Fairbanks. You only have 7 days. I particularly liked the Forest Fair because I gave us a chance to do a little visiting with local craftspeople and hear some great music nevermind seeing the bushes move and yells that there was a bear.

We could tell when the salmon started running in the Russian River because the traffic driving south on the Seward Hwy got very heavy.

I think a little hiking will help you get off the beaten path. One of the trails we did was in Whittier although we did not care for Whittier. There was no one on the trail besides us and some critter - maybe a river otter, who was just as surprised to see us as we were to see him. Down on the river in Kenai/Soldotna area, we discovered a few RVs and fishermen get salmon with nets. I think they enjoyed a brief chat and we were happy to get gifted with a salmon which we cooked that night.

I don't think tourists spend much time at farmers markets and yard sales. The market in Homer was particularly nice. We missed a Hobo Jim concert at the library or visitors center in Kenai by one day.

There was hardly anyone at Independence Mine but maybe it gets busier later in the month. We were in Palmer for a local event with ds and his friends. If you take a look at some of the newspapers on-line, you might get an idea of other things to do that aren't so touristy. I was probably the only out-of-towner on a neighborhood garden tour. I would definitely check for any activities for children that might be held at a library or park. I attended a wonderful quilt show in Soldotna. I recall some bead and rubber stamp shops where you might find something appropriate for the kids or watching a local ball game.

The visitors center at Portage Glacier didn't seem to have many people and there are interesting recordings about the 1964 earthquake.
dfrostnh is online now  
Old Oct 16th, 2015, 06:35 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,370
Received 79 Likes on 8 Posts
Disclaimer - I'm not an RVer and in my years of living in Alaska I developed a rather negative view of them, having followed too many on two-lane roads where my own enjoyment of the drive was reduced by them blocking my view and/or making overtaking difficult or scary. If you're experienced RVers and know the impact you can have on those behind you, forgive my bias. If you're not, please be extra thoughtful; there are very few miles of divided highway in Alaska so most of the time you'll have people following you.

Now that said, let me just pose a thought experiment that doesn't involve an RV, but which addresses the limited time you'll have.

What if you got off the ship in Seward and didn't take the train to Anchorage? Instead, what if you picked up a rental car and spent the first three or four days touring the Kenai Peninsula - down to Homer and across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia or Halibut Cove, or hiking or kayaking or fishing around Seward, taking a day for a Kenai Fjords cruise - full of wildlife and glaciers...? Then you could return the car to Seward so you don't pay the horrific drop-off charges in Anchorage, and THEN take the train up to town. Get a second car (or I suppose you could rent an RV for a shorter time, or even take the train) and head to Denali and back, or hell, really go off the grid and fly someplace in the bush?

Again, bearing in mind I'm not an RVer so I'm making some assumptions that might be exaggerated. But it seems to me that not just the cost, but also the logistics of RVing for a week or less would present complications that suck up hours. You need to go through some "familiarization" on how to run things, need to provision the galley, need to figure out hookups and sewage dumps, finding RV parks and all that. And of course in Denali the RV stays parked while you and your family ride the buses into the park interior.

And in July, remember daylight lasts until well after bedtime, so it's not like the dishwashing and bathroom wrangling is taking place when there's nothing else to do in the dark; on the contrary I'd probably want to squeeze every hour of activity possible out of each day.

The reason you don't see much talk of the loop you described is because compared to Denali and the Kenai, the Richardson Hwy back to the Glenn Hwy (via Tok and Glennallen, for example) isn't (IMO) all that scenic for much of the distance. Not bad, just not as awesome as, for example, the Richardson Hwy between Copper Center and Valdez, or the Seward Hwy south/east from Anchorage, both of which are ultimately cul-de-sacs requiring you to retrace your path (unless you take the ferry from Valdez to Whittier, prohibitively expensive in an RV and also time-consuming.) Basically doing that loop would foreclose any time on the Kenai Peninsula, and IMO the trade isn't worth it.

I'll just mention the "off the grid" idea that came to mind. It might be cost-prohibitive to you, but what the hey?

You can fly from Anchorage to Nome, the historic gold rush town on the Bering Sea, for around $300 round trip. (Or if you get an Alaska Airlines BofA Visa card, use the 25,000 Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles signup bonus and the $99 companion certificate to cover three of the four tickets.)

Anyway, once you're in Nome (where accommodation is generally not as expensive as in the tourist corridor) you can rent a 4WD vehicle and take off into the bush on the surprisingly extensive road system radiating from Nome into the Seward Peninsula. This is REALLY off the beaten path, but might be a real revelation to your group. It's moose, bear, muskoxen and reindeer country, you can visit an Eskimo village, learn about the colorful history of the area (not just the gold rush, but this is one of the oldest continually settled areas of North America) and really get a feel for life in bush Alaska. Have a look at the roads and wildlife opportunities in the area - http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm...ewardpeninsula

Obviously including something like this would take away from other uses of the same time - maybe Denali, maybe the Kenai - but like I said it's a thought experiment, one that might require a little cost computation or even lead to re-imagining the whole trip. I'm not trying to be disruptive, but if you wanted to get away from touristy things, this might be one approach.

Anyway, some thoughts...
Gardyloo is offline  
Old Oct 16th, 2015, 01:50 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
'Touristy' is for the most part a real misconception up here. Yes we have tourists and tourism is important to our economy, but never mistake a crowd here for a crowd in DisneyWorld. There are very few crowds here, especially if you are 2-3 blocks away from any cruise port.

There's a very typical week long AK vacation that many people do. It's very logical and it's based on great AK activities and minimizing the driving (places a far apart up here). It consists of heading as far north as Denali, south to Seward, and points in between.

Here's my suggestion:
- Since the train from Seward (to ANC) leaves Seward at 6pm & gets into ANC at 10pm, I'd do something very different. The train is going to cost your family about $300. Skip that. Dad or mom is going to take one for the team; book PJ's taxis for the RV driver. That person takes the cab & the luggage to ANC to pick up the RV. With transit time & RV 'learning video', RV driver ought to be on the road south to Seward by 1 or 2 pm and back into Seward's Waterfront Park by 5pm. Those that stayed get breakfast, and head to Exit Glacier (RV could pick them up on way back into Seward).
- Spend night 1 and 2 in Seward (fish, day cruises, hiking, kayaking, etc.)
- night 3 s/b in Girdwood/Portage/Whittier area (Williwaw Campground)
- night 4,5,6 s/b in Denali (Riley Creek campground)
- last night could be in/near Talkeetna

- July 4th.... I would not recommend being in/near Seward on this very busy weekend.

- The above activities/destinations minimize driving and you still get some great AK destinations/activities.

Good luck.
sdpryde is offline  
Old Oct 17th, 2015, 01:55 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 30,949
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Tok is a long drive from the Anchorage area with not much to see except lovely scenery. Anchorage to Denali is another long drive with repetitive scenery but you can stop in Wasilla and Talkeetna. Travel with a full tank and a case of water should you choose a car rather than an RV.

We don't have recent experience at Gate Creek Cabins which are 10.5 miles off the Parks Hwy. We stayed in a cabin when everything in Talkeetna was full. You would have to bring your own food but the price for an entire cabin is pretty reasonable compared to a hotel room. There's not a lot of groceries available in Talkeetna so I would recommend stocking up in Wasilla. If you don't mind some extra miles, it might be a location close enough to Denali and Talkeetna worth choosing for a few nights. Definitely not touristy.
http://gatecreekcabins.com/

I like Gardyloo's recommendation to stay in Seward and KP area in the beginning then taking train to ANC. We took the nature boat trip over to Seldovia, nice but not as exciting as the trip out of Seward. We saw lots of eagles in Homer and Seldovia. Lots of moose around Kenai.
dfrostnh is online now  
Old Jan 2nd, 2016, 02:34 PM
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks to all for your input - still researching and getting excited!
travlchik is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
holidayqqq
United States
6
Apr 8th, 2017 10:13 PM
vivek19
United States
5
Aug 8th, 2016 07:30 AM
Sharon_Moran
United States
8
Jan 24th, 2016 07:27 AM
mrkindallas
United States
10
Jan 24th, 2012 05:36 AM
luckygreen
United States
21
Feb 4th, 2007 07:55 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -