Expert: Michael Donaldson - 6/17/2003

Question
We are arriving in Alaska the first week in July and are renting a RV for 10 days. We would like to do some Halibut fishing and really love scenery. My wife recently broke her foot so hiking is out. This will be the honeymoon we never had. Any points of interest on camping ? We don't want to stay put for to long as we want to get as much as we can in a short time. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Randy!

Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I just returned from an unscheduled business trip to Montreal.  Ok, let's get started here:

Sounds like you have a nice trip planned. The #1 suggestion I give everyone planning a trip to Alaska is to go to your nearest bookstore and buy a great travel guide entitled "The Milepost". It's a large easy-to-carry paperback, jam-packed with every bit of information you could ever want while traveling up in Alaska. It will provide you the name of every paved and gravel highway and explain where you're at and what you'll expect to see along the entire route. It'll also give you information about hotels, campgrounds, gas stations, restaurants, gift stores, the ferry system and locations, and even all the phone numbers you could ever want at each location. Bottom line: it's considered the "bible of Alaska" and it'll become a great companion up there...trust me! I lived up there for over 3 years and had it by MY side anytime I did any kind of traveling. I believe they only cost around $25, but it would be well worth every penny.
By the way: you can pretty much pull your RV over anywhere and camp for the night...there's plenty of both campgrounds or pull-overs up in Alaska.  

The Kenai Peninsula is gorgeous and very photogenic. If you fly into Anchorage, it should only take you about 2 hours by RV to get to Seward - a beautiful and quaint fishing town near Exit Glacier. Other towns on the Kenai are Homer, Soldotna, and the town of Kenai itself. The Russian River is on the north side of the peninsula and is very famous for a fishermans fiasco called "combat fishing", where you can see hundreds of fishermen shoulder-to-shoulder all trying to get their share of the thousands of salmon racing up river to spawn. It's an amazing sight to behold. I would highly recommend visiting Homer. It has a famous site called the "Homer Spit", and you can walk around shopping or dining out on their long, narrow, and picturesque peninsula surrounded by mountains. My favorite halibut fishing towns were out of either Seward or Homer.

If you drive 2-3 hours north of Anchorage, you will come to "the pearl of Alaska" - Denali National Park. I spent a lot of time inside that park doing my hiking and photography. You will have to park your car at the visitors center and take the bus in.  The wildlife is in abundance in that park. I have seen wolves, moose, mountain goats, golden eagles, caribou, and of course grizzlies there. Of course, you'll also see many of these animals OUTSIDE the park while driving around Alaska, but they're more concentrated in the park itself.
The mountains will be breathtaking even as you head north out of Anchorage. The city is wrapped by the Chugach Mountains to the east and the Talkeetna Mts. to its north. But the BIG mountains start past Wasilla, Alaska where you'll bask in the majestic scenery of the Alaska Range (which includes Mt McKinley) to the northwest. I highly recommend going to the town of Talkeetna and charter a 1-2 hour plane ride over Mt McKinley and its neighboring mountain range. I guarantee it will be an experience you'd both will never ever forget.

One more suggestion: on your way to Denali, you must go visit the town of Palmer too. It is famous for its giant-size vegetables and its "Swiss Alps" scenery. You'll see signs for the Glenn Highway near Wasilla, and then you'll see how to get to Palmer. It's worth the trip.

I won't go into any further detail about other locations,since there are hundreds. If I can, I'd like to just list for you a few other "must see" places that you'll want to make every effort to visit:

* Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
* The town of Valdez, Haines, Skagway, and North Pole
* The city of Fairbanks (including a great view and hands-on of the famous oil pipeline, the University of Alaska Museum, the riverboat ride along the Nenana River, Alaskaland, and some actual gold panning)
* The Yukon River and Arctic Circle crossing along the Dalton Highway(head north out of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway, then along the Elliott Highway until you hit the Dalton)...you'll be treated to a wild and spectacular up-close view of the tundra and numerous kinds of wildlife, including grizzly, caribou, fox, and moose.

Well, I hope that I helped you out some. Please drop me a short note to LASKANWLF@aol.com to let me know if I answered your questions or not, or if I can help you with any more information about "Gods Playground". Take care, happy traveling, and be safe.

Michael