Alaska in June

We are headed to Alaska in June for two weeks. Not taking the Trailmanor but flying and renting a camper from Great Alaskan Holidays. Depending on the weather we will start in Anchorage and head to Denali via Parks hwy. - to Paxson via Denali hwy. - Glennallen highway to Anchorage - Seward hwy. to Seward - Homer via. Sterling hwy. - back to Anchorage. Looking 1.for sugestions on what Byway Highlights not to miss and 2.the best campgrounds or non campground camping places along this iteniaray? 3.Also what camping items you forgot to bring but wished you hadn't? 4. Good places to fish along the way? Any other suggestions you could give me would be greayely appreciated. Thank you in advance for any sugestions you have. This site is a wealth of advice for us. Thank's.

John & Marion

[Frenchy]

The Denali highway is awful.

[SCBillandJane]

We spent 9 weeks last July- Sept. going from SC to Alaska in our Trailmanor. We would go again. Best info from a book is Milepost which gives you every campground, road condition, interesting places to eat, gas stations, and travel tips. It is updated every year. If you can't get it before you leave, Walmart in Anchorage will probably have it.
Anchorage was our least favorite city because almost half of the population of Alaska lives there. Big city. Great place to stock up on food which can be even more expensive on the road. There is a campground in the city with a Costco across the street. Expensive but close to the stores and a few miles from the airport.
Road to Denali is good for Alaska, but be prepared for frost heaves or undulations in the road and construction delays. Secure everything in the camper. One thing I liked to do was follow someone about 100 yards behind so I could see when he hit a bump ahead.
At Denali there is camping before, in the park without electricity or water, or we stayed past the park on the far side of the tourist town whose name I forgot. Nice place. Get your reservations for the tour bus as soon as possible because the early morning starts are popular. Use the National Park bus tours because they are just as good and cheaper. Take either the 8 or 13 hour tours or you will miss some of the best scenary. Pray for good weather.
From Anchorage to Seward there is a place to see mountain goats right beside the highway so stop if you see 20 cars stopped on the highway. On the way there is a short road to Girdwood where they have the best cinnamon buns in Alaska. In Seward there is an electricity only site right on the harbor. Arrive early because it is first come first serve and very popular with fishermen from Anchorage. We took the big catamaran tour boat from Seward to the glaciers. Captain was great and went very close to the glaciers.
Don't miss Homer Spit. The scenary as you get close to Homer is as spectacular as anywhere in Alaska. We stayed in a campground on the right as you come down in to Homer. Beautiful scenary right from the camper. Camping on the Spit wasn't attractive to us. I went haibut fishing. Expensive but a memory I will always treasure. There is a two fish limit per angler, but you can throw back little ones until you catch what you want to keep. My son and I kept three fish. There is a place near the dock that will clean and ship your fish. Expensive, but we shipped home 98 pounds of filets from the three fish, and I have the pictures and the bills to prove it.
Anchor Point is between Seward and Homer. If you are there at the right time, they have no dock so they launch their 20 to 25 foot fishing boats by backing the boat on it's trailer into the surf with a big 4 wheel drive tractor. At first sight you will think they drinking something stronger than lemonade, but, hey, you have to do whatever floats your boat.
If you have time, don't miss Valdez. There is a campground in the harbor where you can catch salmon from the campground if you are there when they are running. I caught two in an hour and lost several others. The campground owner will tell you what lures to use. Remember salmon don't eat once they leave salt water. There is a secret of how to catch them in fresh water, but I don't know it.
Take bug spray. We didn't have trouble later in the summer, but you might. Take layers of clothing especially a lightweight rain/wind suit. We never had days we thought were warm enough for shorts, but last summer was very cool and unusually rainy. Take good binoculars. A camera with optical zoom greater than 5 and a small tripod would be good.
Watch the gas guage especially if your rig is diesel powered. Gas is available every 50 to 100 miles, but they don't stay open late and might be closed unexpectably.
The only thing you will save money on is flashlight batteries. I don't think we turned ours on in Alaska. It is light enough to see outside all night.
Get the Milepost. There is a site for full time campers called Escapees Discussion Forum. Some have posted blogs with pictures of each days travel in Alaska in great detail if you want to see some opinions of campers and campgrounds. Best of luck and may the skys be clear. We hope you post what you liked because we intend to return.

[Wavery]

I made the same trip through Alaska in '82 in a rented RV. As described above. Not much has changed.

The one thing that I wanted to add is, be careful about pulling off down what looks like a "wilderness road" to camp for the night. We did that and the property owner chased us off at 2:AM with a shotgun. It wasn't the most fun part of the trip. We thought that we were in the middle of nowhere and pulled off next to a beautiful river to sleep for the night..........big mistake.

Bill and Jane, Frenchy & Harvey thank you so much for the timely advice. It is very helpful to us. Bill & Jane I really appreciate the detail and time you spent on your post. If you think of anything else please send. What a great web site.

John & Marion